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Nhà văn Canada chuyên viết truyện ngắn, đoạt Man Booker 2009
Alice Munro wins 2009 Man Booker International Prize

Canadian short story writer wins biannual prize
27 May 2009
Alice Munro is today, 27 May 2009, announced as the winner of the third Man Booker International Prize.

The Man Booker International Prize, worth £60,000 to the winner, is awarded once every two years to a living author for a body of work that has contributed to an achievement in fiction on the world stage. It was first awarded to Ismail Kadaré in 2005 and then to Chinua Achebe in 2007.
Best known for her short stories, Munro is one of Canada's most celebrated writers. On receiving the news of her win, she said, ‘I am totally amazed and delighted.'
The judging panel for the Man Booker International Prize 2009 is: Jane Smiley, writer; Amit Chaudhuri, writer, academic and musician; and writer, film script writer and essayist, Andrey Kurkov. The panel made the following comment on the winner:

‘Alice Munro is mostly known as a short story writer and yet she brings as much depth, wisdom and precision to every story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels. To read Alice Munro is to learn something every time that you never thought of before.'
Her latest collection of short stories, Too Much Happiness, will be published in October 2009. Alice Munro will receive the prize of £60,000 and a trophy at the Award Ceremony on Thursday 25 June at Trinity College, Dublin.
Read more about the judging process of the Man Booker Internatonal Prize in an exclusive piece by Fiammetta Rocco, administrator of the prize, in our Perspective section.
For more information on the 2009 Man Booker International Prize winner please see the press release.

Đúng dân pro! Tuyệt!

Whom do you most want to interview that you haven't yet?
Kyla Kelim, MOBILE, ALA.
Fidel Castro certainly. Always wanted to interview a Pope. Any Pope. And J.D. Salinger, who is probably the most impossible interview to get. The Catcher in the Rye had a major impact on me. I'd ask him, "Where'd you go? Why'd you stop writing? Did you run dry after four books?" That just boggles me. That's something I could never do. Disappear from the scene.
What has allowed you to last so long on the job?
Olaide Sanni, LAGOS, NIGERIA
Longevity is impossible to explain. I never wanted to do anything else but be a broadcaster. I'm talking about age 5. I wanted to be on the radio, then I wanted to be on television. I never thought I'd be seen worldwide. We almost called the book What Am I Doing Here?
Do you agree with the perception that you ask soft questions?
Michael West, COPENHAGEN
Don't agree with it. I'm not there to pin someone to the wall. If I were to begin an interview with Nancy Pelosi and say, "Why did you lie about torture?" the last thing I will learn is the truth. I'd be putting them on the defensive to make me look good. At that point, they're a prop. To me, the guest is not a prop.
Are you concerned about the popularity of ideologically charged news programs?
Bobby Porter BLOOMINGTON, ILL.
I'm not concerned, because all things are cyclical. Hopefully, the good, straight, thoughtful, in-depth interview will always be around. There's something I learned long ago: I never learned a thing when I was talking. So these shows where the host is on 90% of the time and the guest 10%, I don't get it.
Which interview has surprised you the most?
Arzu Samur, ISTANBUL
The Watergate villain G. Gordon Liddy. I don't like to make pre-impressions, but I expected not to like him. And I really liked him. I thought he was wacko, but wackos can be fun. I loved his passion. I loved his sense of humor. He was a true character and therefore duck soup for an interview.
You've taken heat for having tabloid guests on your show. How do you feel about that?
Dirk Crockett OKLAHOMA CITY
I don't know that I deserve the heat, because I don't pick the guests. Never pick the guests. And a lot of times, I don't like it either. However, when the light goes on, I've got a job to do. So if we have to discuss the missing child or the beauty star who's divorcing her husband, it's the nature of the beast. You have to do it. I never throw away a show.
How many pairs of suspenders do you have?
Adrienne Wood BATON ROUGE, LA.
Never counted 'em. But my guess would be-there are suspenders in New York and Washington and, of course, at my home in Los Angeless- 150. But they can't be clip-ons. Every pair of pants I buy -jeans, anything-we sew in the suspender buttons.
How do you deal with guests you don't like?
Peter Rai, MERRILL, WIS.
Well, I'm a professional, and my job is to be a conduit. My personal opinion does not count. I don't use the word I. It's irrelevant. The only thing that counts is the guest. So is it harder to interview someone you don't like? You bet. But you gotta suck it up.
What has been your most awkward interview?
Josh Lewis LAKE ELSINORE, CALIF. Robert Mitchum, who was one of my favorite actors, drove me nuts. Every answer was one word. "Yep. Nope. Maybe. Not sure. Sure." I never got through to him. It got so bad that I wound up asking him what he had for dinner. And when he finished, he said, "How did I do?"
What does life after Larry King Live look like to you?
Felicite Osborne NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.
As Milton Berle said, "Retire? To what?" I don't envision retirement. I'm not a good sitter-arounder, if that's a term. It doesn't suit me. _
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Gấu thú nhất, câu "đóng đinh thập tự thơ" [Do you agree with the perception that you ask soft questions? Michael West, COPENHAGEN Don't agree with it. I'm not there to pin someone to the wall... Ông có đồng ý với nhận định ông đưa ra những câu hỏi nhẹ nhàng quá? Tôi không nghĩ như vậy. Tôi đâu có chường mặt ra đó để đóng đinh khách quí của mình lên màn hình].
Câu này Gấu phải đóng đinh lên tường, trước máy PC, để nhâm nhi, mỗi khi tính làm thịt tay nào!
Câu về Robert Mitchum, tay tài tử chuyên đóng cao bồi mà chẳng thú sao? Đúng là 'khách phạm chủ', thay vì khách bị khùng, thì chủ phát điên lên vì cái cách trả lời độc chiêu đại hiệp của anh tài tử cao bồi. Làm Gấu nhớ tới một cao thủ hitman KGB, mỗi lần bắn là chỉ một cú, đúng ngay tim, không bao giờ bắn thêm phát thứ nhì, trong From Russia With Love.
Câu về Watergate guy, cũng quá tuyệt! Mấy tay khốn kiếp, villain, thường là bảnh, như... Gấu chẳng hạn!
Câu muốn phỏng vấn Salinger cũng tuyệt. Nó làm Gấu nhớ, có mấy câu tính hỏi BHD, sau khi em bỏ đi gần, ngày nào, bỏ đi xa, ngày này, và đành phải chờ gặp lại... : Disappear from the scene.

Bó thân về với triều đình

Biết Xấu Hổ

Bài này hiện đang hot nhất trên net. Thiên hạ khen um lên, còm rối rít, loạn xà ngầu, nhân người ngẫm đến ta, rồi so sánh ta, với đủ thứ người ngượm trên thế giới. Ai cũng biết xấu hổ, trừ... VC.
Sao lạ thế, cà?
Vấn đề này - cái sự không biết xẩu hổ là gì của đám VC bây giờ - nó liên quan hữu cơ tới cái “tự hào của tự hào” của đám VC ngày nào. Tới cuộc chiến thần thánh chống Mỹ cứu nước. Kẻ thù nào cũng đánh thắng. Cả hai thằng thực dân cũ và mới đều thua VC....
Thử hỏi có dân tộc nào bảnh như dân tộc... VC, khi được mọi sắc dân trên thế giới mơ, sáng ngủ dậy thấy biến thành… Yankee mũi tẹt?
Đừng nghĩ Gấu bị tẩu hoả nhập ma, cái gì cũng đổ cho VC. Nhưng đây là một đề tài rất nghiêm túc. Gấu khổ sở vì nó, nhất là từ sau khi trở về thăm lại Đất Bắc, đi đâu cũng hơi bị được rỉ tai, này, cái vụ tham nhũng đó, ở nước người có giống nước ta không. Trả lời, không giống, thì lại bị bồi thêm cú nữa, tại làm sao “ta” lại như thế?
Gấu nhức đầu với vấn đề này trước đó, nhưng dưới dạng khác, qui về câu: Liệu Cái Đói Bắc Kít có thể giải trừ được Cái Ác Bắc Kít? Liệu Cái Đói, thay vì cái Đẹp, sẽ cứu chuộc thế giới?