Margaret Atwood has long been a literary titan, but “current events
have polished the oracular sheen of her reputation,” says The New
Yorker. With her 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale back on the
bestsellers lists and its television adaptation awarded eleven Emmy
Awards, it seems Atwood’s sharp eye is more necessary—and
prescient—than ever. “With dry, ironic wit, a poetic sensibility
and more than a hint of the Gothic, she has uncompromisingly observed
the psychology of people in her society.” —The New York Times
“Every totalitarian government on the planet has always taken a very
great interest in women’s reproductive rights,” says Margaret
Atwood; a disquieting insight at any time, but particularly in
today’s portentous political landscape. Just as it did when it was
published, the story of The Handmaid’s Tale—a future where
women’s reproductive rights are governed by a conservative (and
patriarchal) administration—is unearthing chilling patterns to an
uneasy public. Two blockbuster television adaptations—first The
Handmaid’s Tale, then Alias Grace—have meant that Margaret
Atwood’s vision is reaching a wider audience than ever before. The
Handmaid’s Tale received 13 Emmy nominations and eight
awards—including for Best Drama. Atwood herself received a standing
ovation. Alias Grace, now streaming on Netflix, is based on
Atwood’s Giller-winning, Booker-shortlisted murder mystery, and
is notable for being written, produced, and directed by women. A
winner of many international literary awards, including the
prestigious Booker Prize, Arthur C. Clarke Award, Governor General’s
Award, the PEN Pinter Prize, the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement
Award from the National Book Critics Circle, and a Guggenheim
Fellowship, she is the author of more than fifty volumes of poetry,
children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction. She is perhaps best
known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman, The Robber
Bride, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake, and The Year of the Flood.
Her non-fiction book Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth,
part of the Massey Lecture series, was made into a documentary.
Her novel, MadAddam (the third novel in the Oryx and Crake trilogy),
has received rave reviews: “An extraordinary achievement” (The
Independent); “A fitting and joyous conclusion” (The New York
Times). The trilogy is being adapted into an HBO TV series by
celebrated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky. Atwood’s most recent
collection of short stories is Stone Mattress. Her most recent novel
is Hag-Seed, a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Atwood’s work has been published in more than 40 languages,
including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and
Estonian. In 2004, she co-invented the LongPen, a remote signing
device that allows someone to write in ink anywhere in the world via
tablet PC and the internet. She is a founder of ther Writers’ Trust
of Canada and a founding trustee of the Griffin Poetry Prize. She is
also a popular personality on Twitter, with over a million followers.
Signed book included with VIP ticket Doors: 7:30pm Atwood was born in
1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto.
She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the
University of Toronto and her master’s degree from Radcliffe
College.
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21/09/2019 Last update