Western University reconsiders ties with Nobel laureate-writer Alice Munro after daughter’s disclosure

Western University on Friday took a step toward reconsidering its relationship with acclaimed local writer and Nobel laureate Alice Munro, announcing it has decided to pause a research chair created in her honour.

The move by the London, Ont., school comes in the wake of recent revelations that Munro chose to remain married to her second husband after she learned he had sexually abused her daughter.

“At this time, we are pausing the Alice Munro Chair in Creativity appointment as we carefully consider Munro’s legacy and her ties to Western,” wrote Illeana Paul, acting dean of Western’s faculty of arts and humanities, in a statement.

Writing in the Toronto Star, Andrea Robin Skinner said her stepfather, Gerald Fremlin, sexually assaulted her in the mid-1970s when she was nine years old, and continued to harass and abuse her until she became a teenager. Skinner wrote that in her 20s, she told her mother, who died earlier this year, about Fremlin’s abuse but it stayed a secret for decades.

In the days since Skinner spoke out, questions continue to swirl — including in Munro’s home of Clinton — as to how the legacy of the author should be handled.

“We were deeply troubled to learn of Andrea Robin Skinner’s experience of childhood sexual abuse. Ms. Skinner has our unwavering support and our thoughts are with her,” Paul’s statement said.

The Alice Munro Chair in Creativity was first introduced in 2018, with the stated goal of “lead[ing] the creative culture of the faculty of arts and humanities, serving as a mentor and a model,” as well creating a link between the university and local creative community, according to the university’s website.

The position has seen three appointees since its creation.

Also at Western University, uncertainty remains among faculty who form lessons around Munro’s short stories.

Manina Jones, an English professor, has taught Munro’s works for many years.

“She was the master of the short story. She wrote stories that were detailed and revealed the sort of surface, familiar details of things in order to show their insights and to explore the dark sides of human relationships,” said Jones.

Now, however, Jones finds herself cautiously reconsidering her course content.

“It changes things. This comes at a time of the year when many university professors of literature are sitting down and designing their courses and ordering books, deciding what stories to teach and how they’ll approach them.”

Jones said in an interview on CBC’s London Morning that she believes she’s leaning toward continuing to use Munro’s work in her courses, while making sure to discuss the controversy as part of her teachings. Either way, she said, the question of how to tackle the writer’s legacy is widespread in literary circles.

“From speaking to colleagues in Canadian literature, people are really torn up about this and we’re all struggling in individual ways.”