By Canadian Press

Western University pauses Alice Munro Chair in Creativity program amid reckoning

Jul 12, 2024 | 2:03 PM

LONDON, Ont. — Alice Munro’s alma mater has paused the endowed chair program that bears her name over revelations the writer protected her husband after learning he had sexually abused her daughter.

Western University says Andrea Robin Skinner has the school’s “unwavering support” after coming forward last weekend about her stepfather’s abuse and mother’s silence.

The school says the Alice Munro Chair in Creativity program is being paused while administrators “carefully consider Munro’s legacy and her ties to Western.”

The university introduced the position in 2018, saying the chair would lead the “creative culture” in the faculty of arts and humanities.

Celebrated author Sheila Heti has been in the position since last year, and writer Ivan Coyote held the title before that.

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Heti’s representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press