Today, we listen to an interview with the Canadian writer Alice Munro. She talks about her new collection of short stories The View from Castle Rock. She also talks about how and when she first discovered the magic of books and reading.

Alice Munro has some big-name fans - US novelist Jonathan Franzen called her the 'best fiction writer working in North America', and the British author A. S. Byatt went further, describing her as the 'greatest living short story writer' anywhere!

The View from Castle Rock begins back in the 19th century with Alice Munro's great, great, great grandfather's boat journey from Scotland to Canada ... and stories from her family's past lead to stories of her own life in small-town contemporary Canada.

Listen
	Great new Canadian short stories by Alice Munro

You can also download the programme in mp3 format and follow it with a transcript.

Vocabulary from the programme

big-name
adjective
famous

fiction
a work describing imaginary people and events

autobiography
an account of somebody's life written by that person

at large
adjective
in general

self-indulgence
something you do only for your own pleasure or satisfaction

poverty
not having enough money for basic needs such as food, clothing and housing

hardship
difficulties caused by lack of money

an outcast
someone who has been excluded by a particular group or by society as a whole

rage
extreme anger

Programme script (pdf - 21k)

Download this programme (mp3 - 1.7mb)