The same year she announced that she's putting down her pen, Canadian short story writer and one-time novelist Alice Munro has taken home the Nobel Prize in Literature. One giant step for her, one giant leap for proponents of quieter stories. Her writing often hones in on small characters, domestic life, and the female experience.
If you haven't already, we highly recommend picking up one of her collections, or her excellent novel, "Lives of Girls and Women."
What better time than now is there to revisit past Nobel winners? Exploring the works of past recipients is an excellent means of discovering works in translation, or by writers whose fame has been largely forgotten. Here are 13 Nobel Prize in Literature winners we think you absolutely must read, if you haven't already:
Selma Lagerlöf
She's the first woman to win the prize, and is famous for her children's book, "The Wonderful Adventures of Nils," which was commissioned by Sweden's National Teachers Association, and includes fascinating descriptions of the country's wildlife, as well as previously unpublished folklore.
Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore was the first non-European to win, and is responsible for introducing Indian culture to the West. In addition to novels, he wrote songs and "dance dramas."
William Butler Yeats
The Irish poet's work, "The Second Coming," inspired the title of Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart," and the epigraph of Joan Didion's "Slouching Towards Bethlehem."
George Bernard Shaw
Another Irish winner, Shaw was primarily a playwright -- He also won an Oscar for an adaptation of one of his own plays, "Pygmalion."
T. S. Eliot
British poet and social critic Eliot is known for more than "The Waste Land": We suggest you pick up "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," too.
Ernest Hemingway
One of the rare American winners, Hemingway's "The Old Man and he Sea" thrust him back into the spotlight after years of so-so criticism. We suggest starting with his short stories.
Pablo Neruda
The Chilean poet will win you over with his poignant thoughts on love.
Gabriel García Márquez
The Colombian writer made magical realism a popular thing, and we are so grateful.
Naguib Mahfouz
The first Egyptian writer to tackle Existentialism, Mahfouz introduces Arabic language and contemporary Egyptian culture to the West.
Nadine Gordimer
Gordimer relentlessly wrote about apartheid in South Africa, in spite of many of her titles being banned. We recommend "The Conservationist," which won the Booker in 1974.
Orhan Pamuk
Pamuk's "Istanbul" fights the Western fixation with the city, associating its melancholy with charm. It's also just a beautifully-written memoir, and we highly recommend it, along with his fictional works. He underwent the ambitious task of building an entire museum to complement one of his novels.
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