Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan

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What was your first reaction?
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Have you been basically the same sort ofa writer from the beginning 
to the end? Have you changed, do you think?
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For those who don’t work, would you recommend a starting point?
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So they should start with Dear Life, should they?
TAPESCRIPT
http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1961 
Telephone Interview with Alice Munro (4 minutes)
Alice Munro - Interview 
«This may Change my Mind ...»
Telephone interview with Alice Munro following the announcement
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of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature on 10 October 2013. The interviewer 
is Nobelprize.org’s Adam Smith.
[Adam Smith] Hello, Adam Smith.
[Alice Munro] Hello Adam!
[AS] Hello, this is Alice Munro?
[AM] Yes, this is Alice Munro. I just wanted to thank you, very much. 
This is quite a wonderful thing for me. It’s a wonderful thing for the short 
story.
[AS] It is indeed, and may we congratulate you in tum. It’s a wonderful 
day.
[AM] Thank you very, very much.
[AS] How did you hear the news?
[AM] Um, let me see, I was wandering around this moming, early. 
How did I hear it first? [Said to her daughter, Jenny, in the room with her] 
... Oh, the press called me.
[AS] And what was your first reaction? Do you remember?
[AM] Unbelief. [Laughs] I really couldn’t believe it, I was so happy, 
and I haven’t gotten over the delight yet.
[AS] You’ve produced an enormous body of work over four decades
[AM] Well I have, yes. But, you know, because I work generally in 
the short story form, this is a special thing I think to get this recognition.
[AS] Yes indeed, yes indeed. Have you been basically the same sort of 
writer from the beginning to the end? Have you changed, do you think?
[AM] Well you know as far as I can tell, I have not changed very 
much. But someone else could answer that question better I think.
[AS] And the award will bring a great new readership to your work ...
[AM] Well I would hope so, and I hope this would happen not just for 
me but for the short story in general. Because it’s often sort of bmshed off, 
you know, as something that people do before they write their first novel. 
And I would like it to come to the fore, without any strings attached, so 
that there doesn’t have to be a novel.
[ AS ] And for tho se who don ’ t know your work, would y ou recommend 
a starting point?
[AM] Oh goodness! I don’t know, I can’t ... You always think that 
your latest work is your best, at least I do. So I would want them to start 
with the latest book.
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[AS] So they should start with Dear Life should they?
[AM] Well, in a way, yes, but then I hope they would go back and 
read the others as well.
[AS] And of course everybody is talking about the fact that you 
announced earlier this year that you were going to stop writing, and 
saying “Maybe this will encourage her to start again”.
[AM] [Laughs] Well you know I’ve been doing it for so many years. 
I’ve been writing and publishing, I think, since I was about twenty - just 
now and then I would get something published you know - but that’s a 
long time to be working and I thought maybe it’s time to take it easy. But 
this may change my mind. [Laughter]
[AS] That’s an exciting statement! That’s going to have everybody 
buzzing.
[Both laugh]
[AS] How splendid! So, I know that you must be tired after speaking 
to so many people so we would like very much to talk to you perhaps on 
another occasion ...
[AM] That would be great, actually, because I am a little bit tired and 
woozy now and God knows what I might say!
[AS] [Laughs] OK, well w e’ll wait until this quiet down a bit, and 
then ...
[AM] OK.
[AS] It has been a great pleasure to speak to you, thank you so very 
much indeed.
[AM] Thank you, goodbye.
[AS] Bye, bye.
4. Let students listen to the tape again. A sk them to make notes 
of the answers of Alice Munro to the questions given by the 
interviewer. They may refer to Ex. 3 for the list of questions. Let 
them share it in pairs. Below the full version of the question- 
answer details are available. Check students’ note taking.