Alice Munro’s stories will remain on Indigo shelves, but Canada’s largest bookstore chain said it will remove photos of the late novelist from some of its locations.
The move comes as the literary world continues to reckon with revelations, first reported by the Star, that Munro’s daughter, Andrea Robin Skinner, was sexually abused by her stepfather and that her mother did not support her when she shared her experiences.
A spokesperson for Indigo told the Star in an email Wednesday that the company supports and respects Skinner after she shared her story in an essay for the paper. While the bookseller said it will make some changes in response to the reports, it stopped short of altering or removing any of Munro’s titles currently on sale.
Alice Munro’s husband sexually assaulted her youngest daughter. For nearly five decades, a
“Alice Munro’s books are not in violation of our assortment policy, and we will continue to carry her books,” Indigo spokesperson Madison Downey said in the statement. “Images of Alice Munro appear in some of our stores, and we have determined that it is appropriate for us to remove these.”
Under Indigo’s “assortment policy,” the company said it “fundamentally” supports the free flow of ideas, information and writing representing different viewpoints. It added that products will only be removed if they contain instructions on how to build weapons of mass destruction, include child pornography, incite hatred against an identifiable group or promote genocide denial.
Munro, who died in May at age 92, was widely considered one of Canada’s most influential and iconic writers. But the legacy of the late Nobel Prize laureate is now being re-evaluated after Skinner published her personal story earlier this month.
Munro’s alma mater, Western University, announced last week it was pausing an endowed chair program named in honour of the Canadian author, adding that Skinner has the university’s “unwavering support.”
How could this stay a secret? The Star explores that question, backed by interviews with Andrea
The bookstore in Victoria, B.C., that was established by Munro and her first husband, Jim, and named in their honour also issued a statement expressing solidarity with Skinner.” Along with so many readers and writers, we will need time to absorb this news and the impact it may have on the legacy of Alice Munro, whose work and ties to the store we have previously celebrated,” the bookstore said, noting it has been independently owned since 2014.
