Margaret Atwood

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Biography

Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1939. She is the daughter of a forest entomologist, and spent part of her early years in the bush of North Quebec. She moved, at the age of seven, to Toronto. She studied at the University of Toronto, then took her masters degree at Radcliffe College, Massachusetts, in 1962.

She is Canada's most eminent novelist and poet, and also writes short stories, critical studies, screenplays, radio scripts and books for children, her works having been translated into over 30 languages. Her reviews and critical articles have appeared in various eminent magazines and she has also edited many books, including The New Oxford Book of Canadian Verse in English (1983) and, with Robert Weaver, The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English (1986). She has been a full-time writer since 1972, first teaching English, then holding a variety of academic posts and writer residencies. She was President of the Writers Union of Canada from 1981-1982 and President of PEN, Canada from 1984-1986.

Her first publication was a book of poetry, The Circle Game (1964), which received the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry (Canada). Several more poetry collections have followed since, including Interlunar (1988), Morning in the Burned House (1995) and the latest, Eating Fire: Selected Poetry, 1965-1995 (1998). Also a short story writer, her books of short fiction include Dancing Girls and Other Stories (1982), Wilderness Tips (1991), and Good Bones (1992).

She is perhaps best known, however, for her novels, in which she creates strong, often enigmatic, women characters and excels in telling open-ended stories, while dissecting contemporary urban life and sexual politics. Her first novel was The Edible Woman (1969), about a woman who cannot eat and feels that she is being eaten. This was followed by: Surfacing (1973), which deals with a woman's investigation into her father's disappearance; Lady Oracle (1977); Life Before Man (1980); Bodily Harm (1982), the story of Rennie Wilford, a young journalist recuperating on a Caribbean island; and The Handmaid's Tale (1986), a futuristic novel describing a woman's struggle to break free from her role. Her latest novels have been: Cat's Eye (1989), dealing with the subject of bullying among young girls; The Robber Bride (1993); Alias Grace (1996), the tale of a woman who is convicted for her involvement in two murders about which she claims to have no memory; The Blind Assassin (2000), a multi-layered family memoir; and Oryx and Crake (2003), a vision of a scientific dystopia, which was shortlisted for the 2003 Man Booker Prize for Fiction and for the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction.

These novels have received many awards. Alias Grace, The Handmaid's Tale and Cat's Eye have all been shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction. The Blind Assassin was successful in winning this prize in 2000.

Some of Margaret Atwood's books have been adapted for stage and screen. A film based on Alias Grace is currently being made, and a four-part mini-seres based on The Blind Assassin and screenplay for The Robber Bride are also underway. The theatrical version of The Edible Woman is currently also being successfully staged. The Handmaid's Tale was adapted for screen by Harold Pinter in a film directed by Volker Schlorndorf, released in 1990, and is now being staged as an opera by Poul Ruders. The British Premiere was performed by English National Opera at the Coliseum, London, in April 2003.

Margaret Atwood is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, has been presented with the Order of Ontario and the Norwegian Order of Literary Merit, and has been awarded sixteen honorary degrees. She has lived in many places including Canada, England, Scotland and France, and currently lives in Toronto.

Her most recent books are: The Door (2007), a collection of poetry; Payback (2008), a collection of lectures about debt; and The Year of the Flood (2009), her latest novel.

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Genres (in alphabetical order)

Children, Fiction, Literary criticism, Non-fiction, Poetry, Radio drama, Screenplay, Short stories

Bibliography

Double Persephone   Hawkshead Press (Canada), 1961

The Circle Game   Cranbrook Academy of Art (USA), 1964

Kaleidoscopes Baroque: A Poem   Cranbrook Academy of Art (USA), 1965

Talismans for Children   Cranbrook Academy of Art (USA), 1965

Speeches for Doctor Frankenstein   Cranbrook Academy of Art (USA), 1966

The Animals in That Country   Oxford University Press (Canada), 1968

The Edible Woman   André Deutsch, 1969

Blewointmentpress Occupation Issew   (by Margaret Atwood et al)   Blewointmentpress (Canada), 1970

Lobsticks: Poems   (Margaret Atwood et al)   Alive Press (Canada), 1970

Procedures for Underground   Oxford University Press (Canada), 1970

Power Politics   House of Anansi Press (Canada), 1971

Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature   House of Anansi Press (Canada), 1972

Surfacing   André Deutsch, 1973

You Are Happy   Oxford University Press (Canada), 1974

Selected Poems 1965-1975   Oxford University Press (Canada), 1976

Days of the Rebels: 1815-1840   Natural Science of Candada (Canada), 1977

Lady Oracle   André Deutsch, 1977

Marsh Hawk   Dreadnaught (Canada), 1977

The Canadian Imagination: Dimensions of a Literary Culture   (by Margaret Atwood et al)   Harvard University Press, 1977

Two-Headed Poems   Oxford University Press (Canada), 1978

Up in the Tree   McClelland and Stewart (Canada), 1978

Anna's Pet   ("Kids of Canada" series with Joyce C. Barkhouse)   Lorimer (Canada), 1980

Life Before Man   Cape, 1980

Notes Towards a Poem That Can Never Be Written   Salamander Press, 1981

Bodily Harm   Cape, 1982

Dancing Girls and Other Stories   Cape, 1982

Encounters with the Element Man   William B. Ewert (USA), 1982

Second Words: Selected Critical Prose   House of Anansi Press (Canada), 1982

True Stories   Cape, 1982

Murder in the Dark   Cape, 1983

Snake Poems   Salamander Press (Canada), 1983

The New Oxford Book of Canadian Verse in English   Oxford University Press (Canada), 1983

Unearthing Suite   Grand Union Press (Canada), 1983

The Handmaid's Tale   Cape, 1986

The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English   (editor with Robert Weaver)   Oxford University Press (Canada), 1986

Bluebeard's Egg and Other Stories   Cape, 1987

Hurricane Hazel and Other Stories   Eurographica (Iceland), 1987

Second Words   Houghton Mifflin (USA), 1987

The Canlit Foodbook: From Pen to Palate - A Collection of Tasty Literary Fare   (compiled and illustrated by Margaret Atwood)   Totem Books (Canada), 1987

Interlunar   Cape, 1988

Cat's Eye   Bloomsbury, 1989

The Best American Short Stories, 1989: Selected from U. S. and Canadian Magazines   (Margaret Atwood with Shannon Ravenel; with an introduction by Margaret Atwood)   Houghton Mifflin (USA), 1989

Barbed Lyres: Canadian Venomous Verse   (foreword by Margaret Atwood)   Key Porter (Canada), 1990

For the Birds   (illustrated by John Bianchi)   Douglas & McIntyre (Canada), 1990

Selected Poems: 1966-1984   Oxford University Press (Canada), 1990

Poems 1965-1975   (originally published as "Poems 1965-1975", Houghton Mifflin, USA, 1987)   Virago, 1991

Wilderness Tips   Bloomsbury, 1991

Good Bones   Bloomsbury, 1992

Poems 1976-1986   (originally published as "Selected Poems II: Poems Selected and New, 1976-1986", Oxford University Press, Canada, 1986)   Virago, 1992

The Poetry of Gwendolyn MacEwen: Volume One, The Early Years   (editor with Barry Callaghan)   Exile Editions (Canada), 1993

The Robber Bride   Bloomsbury, 1993

Beyond the Map: Poems by Diane Ackerman, Margaret Atwood, et al   The Elm Press (USA), 1994

The Poetry of Gwendolyn MacEwen: Volume Two, The Later Years   (editor with Barry Calaghan)   Exile Editions (Canada), 1994

Morning in the Burned House   Virago, 1995

Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut   Barefoot Books, 1995

Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Candadian Literature   (A collection of Margaret Atwood's 1991 Clarendon lectures delivered at Oxford University)   Clarendon Press, 1995

The New Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English   (selected by Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver)   Oxford University Press, 1995

"The Labrador Fiasco"   (Bloomsbury Quids)   Bloomsbury, 1996

Alias Grace   Bloomsbury, 1996

The Selected Poetry of Gwendolyn MacEwen   (selected and introduced by Margaret Atwood)   Virago, 1996

A Quiet Game: And Other Early Works   (edited and annotated by Kathy Chung and Sherrill Grace, with an introduction by Sherrill Grace and illustrations by Kathy Chung)   Juvenilia Press (Canada), 1997

The Journals of Susanna Moodie   (with a memoir by Charles Pachter and foreword by David Staines)   Bloomsbury, 1997

Eating Fire: Selected Poetry, 1965-1995   Virago, 1998

The Blind Assassin   Bloomsbury, 2000

Negotiating With the Dead: A Writer on Writing   Cambridge University Press, 2002

Oryx and Crake   Bloomsbury, 2003

Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes   Bloomsbury, 2004

Curious Pursuits   Virago, 2005

The Penelopiad; the myth of Penelope and Odysseus   Canongate, 2005

Writing with Intent: Essays, Reviews, Personal Prose 1983-2005   Carroll & Gray, 2005

Waltzing Again: New and Selected Conversations with Margaret Atwood   (with Earl C. Ingersoll)   Ontario Review Press (Canada), 2006

Moral Disorder   Nan A. Talese, 2006

Bashful Bob & Doleful Dorinda   (illustrated by Dusan Petricic)   Bloomsbury, 2006

The Tent   Bloomsbury, 2006

The Door   Virago, 2007

Payback: Debt as Metaphor and the Shadow Side of Wealth   Bloomsbury, 2008

Crimespotting   (contributor)   Polygon, 2009

The Year of the Flood   Bloomsbury, 2009

Read about books by Margaret Atwood at encompassculture.com - the British Council's book database and global online book club

Buy books by Margaret Atwood at Amazon.co.uk

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Prizes and awards

1966   Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry (Canada)   The Circle Game

1977   Canadian Booksellers Association Award   Lady Oracle

1977   Toronto Book Award   Lady Oracle

1978   St Lawrence Award for Fiction (Canada)   Lady Oracle

1982   Arts Council of Wales International Writers Prize   Bodiy Harm

1986   Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction (Canada)   The Handmaid's Tale

1987   Arthur C Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction   The Handmaid's Tale

1987   Booker Prize for Fiction   (shortlist)   The Handmaid's Tale

1987   Commonwealth Writers Prize (Caribbean and Canada Region, Best Book)   The Handmaid's Tale

1987   Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Fiction)   The Handmaid's Tale

1987   Ritz Hemingway Prize (France)   (shortlist)   The Handmaid's Tale

1989   Booker Prize for Fiction   (shortlist)   Cat's Eye

1989   Canadian Booksellers Association Award   Cat's Eye

1989   Toronto Book Award   Cat's Eye

1993   Canadian Authors' Association Novel of the Year   The Robber Bride

1994   Commonwealth Writers Prize (Caribbean and Canada Region, Best Book)   The Robber Bride

1994   Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence   The Robber Bride

1996   Booker Prize for Fiction   (shortlist)   Alias Grace

1996   Giller Prize (Canada)   Alias Grace

1997   Canadian Booksellers Association Author of the Year

1997   National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature (USA)

1997   Premio Mondello (Italy)   Alias Grace

1998   International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award   (shortlist)   Alias Grace

2000   Booker Prize for Fiction   The Blind Assassin

2001   Crime Writers' Association Dashiell Hammett Award   The Blind Assassin

2001   Orange Prize for Fiction   (shortlist)   The Blind Assassin

2002   International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award   (shortlist)   The Blind Assassin

2003   Man Booker Prize for Fiction   (shortlist)   Oryx and Crake

2004   Orange Prize for Fiction   (shortlist)   Oryx and Crake

2005   Man Booker International Prize   (shortlist)

2006   Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature   (shortlist)   The Penelopiad: the Myth of Penelope and Odysseus

2007   Man Booker International Prize   (shortlist)

2008   Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature (Spain)

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Critical Perspective

Coming to Margaret Atwood’s work for the first time, a reader is likely to be daunted: she is seen as one of the world’s leading women novelists, for some the best of them all; she has written poetry, novels, criticism and short stories; she campaigns for human rights and for the environment; she has simply written so much. Nonetheless, across the years, certain themes, concerns and ways of writing recur. Amongst other things, Atwood writes about art and its creation, the dangers of ideology, and sexual politics; she deconstructs myths, fairytales and the classics for a new audience. Her work is often gothic, which is one reason for its wide popularity.

The Handmaid’s Tale (1986) is Atwood’s most famous novel. The story of a woman called Offred, living in the republic of Gilead, a nightmarishly imagined America of the future, it contains many characteristic features of the novelist’s work. It is starkly political, in its depiction of the constrained rights of the individual in a new society, and of male-female power relations; it shows a woman who has suffered much, attaining some subjectivity through the act of narration – this is Offred’s own book. Importantly, though, it is readable: the novel is science fiction as well as literary fiction, and accessible to a wide audience; for Atwood, an ideal reader ‘is somebody who reads the book on the first read-through to see what happens’. The author actually prefers the term ‘speculative fiction’ to science fiction, and in the essay ‘Aliens have taken the place of angels’ has written that it can ‘explore the nature and limits of what it means to be human’ and ‘explore proposed changes in social organisation’ (The Guardian, 17 June 2005). But what lingers most about this novel is its ending: did Offred escape? We shall never know, and find that her ‘tale’ has been transcribed by scholars in a subsequent future. It may even be fictional, in Atwood’s fictional world itself. The postmodern conclusion leaves us with a moving sense of uncertainty, as the author breaks generic boundaries.

We can make links to other key Atwood works from The Handmaid’s Tale. Her feminism is apparent from her first published novel, The Edible Woman (1969), which Atwood calls ‘proto-feminist’: it predates the key years of the women’s movement, and is also, beyond its political interest, comic. Surfacing (1973), one of Atwood’s most written-about books, explores a woman’s journey into madness, the setting on the borders of Canada and the US mirroring the borderline of rationality and fantasy of the narrator. Again, it is an accessible exploration of female subjectivity, with a great deal of writing in the first-person; as in The Handmaid’s Tale, we are thus brought very close to the protagonist. For many Canadians, Surfacing was, combined with the critical work Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature (1972), a book that gave their literature a life of its own.

Works that follow The Handmaid’s Tale often echo it in terms of form. Atwood has become increasingly interested in genre fiction, in writing within popular narrative forms, while questioning what they convey. This is the case with Alias Grace (1996), where Peter Kemp felt that the author ‘confirms her status as the outstanding novelist of our age’ (The Sunday Times, 8 September 1996). Atwood’s first historical novel, it imagines the story behind the 19th-century figure Grace Marks, imprisoned for murder, and at one point placed in an asylum. Combined with the familiar territory of imprisonment and subjugation, and the mysterious feminine, though, is a crime novel – did she do it, or not? Atwood subverts reader’s expectations by refusing to provide an answer; the novel is similarly postmodern in its depiction of the silent, lost voices of the past. The generic mixing becomes even stronger in the Booker Prize-winning The Blind Assassin (2000), which Alex Clark found to have ‘all the drama and intensity of a gothic horror story’, commenting that ‘Atwood has always sought to collapse and subvert different genres, so it isn’t surprising that her family saga should encompass pulp sci-fi, clue-strewn detective novel, newspaper reportage and tragic confessional romance.’ (The Guardian, 30 September 2000). The novel that followed, Oryx and Crake (2003) is, like The Handmaid’s Tale, dystopic science fiction; she shows herself interested in scientific development and possibility – and danger – to a degree rare in literary figures.

Atwood’s best novel, however, must surely be Cat’s Eye (1989). It is a slow-burning piece, the story of a famous artist returning to Toronto for a major exhibition, and mentally reliving her childhood and teenage years. It becomes clearer as we progress that Elaine Risley is a highly damaged individual, cold and emotionally withdrawn, and we find a partial explanation in the bullying she suffered when young. She is condemned to a life apart, as we see right at the end of the book:

‘This is what I miss, Cordelia: not something that’s gone, but something that will never happen. Two old women giggling over their tea.’

The spare, detached style is precisely the point, and as fitting for Elaine as it is for Offred. The simplicity is the key to Atwood’s writing: it has ensured her wide readership, and is found likewise in much of her poetry. If Atwood is known for novels rather than her poems, this is because of the dominance of the novel in the market; many of her poems convey her characteristic themes concisely and originally. Such is the case with an early poem, ‘This is a Photograph of Me’, which is composed as the voice of a dead woman; subtle links might be made to Alias Grace, as Atwood opens up the lost and unknown:

‘The photograph was taken
The day after I drowned’

‘I am in the lake, in the center
Of the picture, just under the surface.’

Although Atwood’s recent novels have received prizes and much critical attention, there are those that claim that The Blind Assassin and Oryx and Crake are not her strongest work. Compared with her recent shorter fiction and stories, this might well be true. Moral Disorder (2006) is an intriguing book, for the stories, written separately, are united to form a fictional biography of someone who may or may not be Atwood. We begin with an elderly couple, then move back to the woman’s childhood, until we are back again with a woman visiting her elderly parents. Who is the ‘I’? The blurring of subjects suggests a common humanity in age and decay; the end, where the narrator uses her imagination to breathe life into an old photograph, is Atwood at her very best. The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus (2005) is a wonderfully funny retelling of part of Homer’s Odyssey from the viewpoint of Penelope. While making strong points about the treatment of women, both in fiction and society, the delight is the deadpan, modern voice of the new Penelope: ‘I repressed a desire to say that Helen should have been kept in a locked trunk in a dark cellar because she was poison on legs’; ‘she’d turned his men into pigs – not a hard job in my view’. The comic use of the Greek chorus, who are now a chorus line, is equally good. Alongside this comic energy, though, comes an increasing bleakness in Atwood; in The Tent (2006), and its title story, words are a dubious refuge against a cold world. For her admirers worldwide, however, Atwood’s words are far more than just a refuge.

Dr Nick Turner, 2009 

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Contact information

Publisher (General enquiries) Bloomsbury Publishing plc 38 Soho Square London  W1D 3HB England Tel: +44 (0)20 7494 2111 Fax: +44 (0)20 7434 0151 E-mail: publicity@bloomsbury.com http://www.bloomsbury.com

Agent Curtis Brown Group Ltd Haymarket House 28-29 Haymarket London  SW1Y 4SP England Tel: +44 (0)20 7393 4400 Fax: +44 (0)20 7393 4401 E-mail: info@curtisbrown.co.uk http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk

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Related links

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