She started writing as a stay-at-home mother with three young daughters. She didn't have the uninterrupted time to devote to a novel, so she wrote short stories.
Her literary inspirations include Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Katherine Anne Porter, Carson McCullers, and Anton Chekhov.
She was the first Canadian to win the Nobel Prize for literature.
Co-founder with James Munro of Munro's Books in Victoria, B.C.
She was awarded the 2002 Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal from the Canadian Governor General. She lives in Clinton, Ontario, Canada.
She was awarded the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Canadian Governor General. She lives in Clinton, Ontario, Canada.
Pictured on a Canadian 'permanent' commemorative stamp issued 10 July 2015. Price on day of issue was 85¢.