Alice Munro, "the master of the contemporary short story" won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday, becoming the 13th woman to achieve the honor. The Canadian author's fiction is ambiguous and authentic, and she is simply able to capture human exploration, complex relationships, and the vast quaint nature of an Ontario upbringing.

Munro, 82, began sharing her work with the world in 1968 at 37. Her short story collection Dance of the Happy Shades won the Governor General's Award and great acclaim, and ever since readers have been gobbling down any stories that Munro has cooked up. Her collections to follow, Lives of Girls and Women(1971), Who Do You Think you Are (titled The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo and Rose in the US-1978), The Moons of Jupiter(1982), The Progress of Love (1986),Friend of My Youth(1990), Open Secrets (1994), The Love of a Good Woman (1988), Hateship, Friendship, Loveship, Marriage (2001), Runway(2004), The View From Castle Rock(2006), Too Much Happiness (2009) and Dear Life(2012) earned her five more Governor General's Awards, two Giller Prizes, and a Trillium Book Award. She's also received numerous other awards, praising her and thanking her for her contribution to the literary world.

Munro, whose collection Dear Life was her last, was reportedly difficult to find when it came time to let her know that she'd won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy was unable to get in contact with her prior to making the announcement on Twitter, so they simply left a voicemail. Monroe was visiting her daughter at the time of the win. Her daughter woke her at 4 a.m. to inform her of the great news, and Munro spoke with the Canadian Broadcasting just minutes.

"It just seems impossible," she said. "It seems just so splendid a thing to happen, I can't describe it. It's more than I can say." She later added, "I would really hope this would make people see the short story as an important art, not just something you played around with until you got a novel."

Munro is the first Canadian woman to win the Nobel in literature, which praises a lifetime of creative work. Winners are given a medal, a diploma, and a monetary prize of eight million Swedish kronor, or about $1.2 million.

The Latino who was last awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature was Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa in 2010.