Alice Munro is last to know she won the Nobel Prize in Literature

Image by Andreas Vartdal/Wikimedia Commons

When news broke that writer Alice Munro had won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, it seemed that everyone in the world knew about her win. Except for Munro.

Okay,everyone's calling Me to get me to write about Alice! (Alice, come out from behind the tool shed and pick up the phone.) #AliceMunro

— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) October 10, 2013

The 82-year-old author reportedly didn’t pick up her phone when the Nobel Prize Committee tried calling. The Atlantic’s Megan Garber speculated that perhaps Munro intentionally didn’t pick up the phone as to forever save the voicemail on her answering machine.

@Nobelprize.org is trying to reach #AliceMunro for our traditional phone interview, still voice mail… #NobelPrize http://t.co/Yjg6kYsxIr

— Nobelprize_org (@Nobelprize_org) October 10, 2013

She only learned of the news when The Canadian Press somehow reached her to give her the news live on air.

“I’m delighted of course, I’m just terribly surprised,” Munro said.