Western University reconsiders ties with Nobel laureate-writer Alice Munro after daughter's disclosure - Action News
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Western University reconsiders ties with Nobel laureate-writer Alice Munro after daughter's disclosure

Western University in London, Ont., has taken a step toward reconsidering its relationship with acclaimed local writer and Nobel laureate Alice Munro, announcing Friday it has decided to pause a chair created in her honour.

Professors at London, Ont., university are grappling with how to teach her writings

University College
Western University is pausing a chair created to honour local writer and Nobel laureate Alice Munro. (Colin Butler/CBC News)

Western University on Friday took a step toward reconsidering its relationship with acclaimed local writer and Nobel laureate Alice Munro, announcing it has decided to pause a chair created in her honour.

The move by the London, Ont., school comesin the wake ofrecent revelations that Munro chose to remain married to her second husband after she learned he had sexually abused her daughter.

"At this time, we are pausing the Alice Munro Chair in Creativityappointment as we carefully consider Munro's legacy and her ties to Western," wrote Illeana Paul, acting dean of Western's faculty of arts and humanities, in astatement.

Writing in the Toronto Star, Andrea Robin Skinner said her stepfather, Gerald Fremlin, sexually assaulted her in the mid-1970swhen she was nine years old, and continued to harass and abuse her until she became a teenager. Skinner wrote that in her 20s, she told her mother, who died earlier this year, about Fremlin's abuse butit stayed a secret for decades.

In the days since Skinner spoke out, questions continue to swirl including in Munro's home of Clinton as to how the legacy of the author shouldbe handled.

"We were deeply troubled to learn of Andrea Robin Skinner's experience of childhood sexual abuse. Ms. Skinner has our unwavering support and our thoughts are with her," Paul's statement said.

The Alice Munro Chair in Creativity was first introduced in 2018, with the stated goal of "lead[ing]the creative culture of the faculty of arts and humanities, serving as a mentor and a model," as well creating a link between the university and local creative community, according to the university's website.

The position has seen three appointees since its creation.

LISTEN | How one English professor is rethinking her Alice Munro course content:
Recent revelations by Alice Munro's daughter ricocheted through the country. London Morning spoke with Western University English and Writing Studies professor Manina Jonesabout how the news could change her course content going forward.

Also at Western University, uncertainty remains among faculty who form lessons around Munro's short stories.

Manina Jones, an English professor, hastaught Munro's works for many years.

"She was the master of the short story. She wrote stories that were detailed and revealed thesort of surface, familiar details of things in order to show their insights and to explore the dark sides of human relationships," said Jones.

Alice Munro was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 2013. Renown for her mastery of the short story form, Munro's stories focused on the inner struggles of everyday people in stories often set in small town Ontario.
Munro, pictured above at the Man Booker International Award in 2009, is revered around the world for her masterful short stories, but recent revelations made by her daughter has some doubting her legacy. (Peter Muhly/Getty Images)

Now, however, Jones finds herself cautiously reconsidering her course content.

"It changes things. This comes at a time of the year when many university professors of literature are sitting down and designing their courses and ordering books, deciding what stories to teach and how they'll approach them."

Jones said in an interview on CBC'sLondon Morning thatshe believes she's leaning toward continuing to use Munro's work in her courses, while making sure to discuss the controversy as part of her teachings. Either way, she said, the question of how to tackle the writer's legacy is widespread in literary circles.

"From speaking to colleagues in Canadian literature, people are really torn up about this and we're all struggling in individual ways."

With files from Matthew Trevithick