MUNRO TO RETIRE?

Is Alice Munro fixing to hang up her pen?
Canadian literary icon Alice Munro is expected to announce at a Toronto fundraiser tonight that she has written her last book.
Munro is scheduled to give a reading at a benefit and book launch for Writing Life, a PEN Canada anthology of essays from 50 Canadian and international authors that is scheduled to hit stores July 1. In her contribution to the volume, Munro cites a tremor in her writing nerves in the face of constant interruptions and advancing age. (She will be 75 next month.) She says she can quit writing 'in the interests of a manageable life' and with the knowledge that it's rare for outstanding work to be produced in a author's later years, 'so one or two books fewer won't really be anybody's loss.'