Canadian writer Margaret Atwood has been delighting readers with her works since 1961, and her manuscript "The Chronicler of the Moon" will be published only in 2114, since she took part in the "Library of the Future" project. The project resembles a time capsule: the works are kept in the public library in Oslo and will not be published until 2114.
Biography
Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and was named after her mother. The parents of the future writer were far from literature - her father studied insects, and her mother was a nutritionist. Due to her father's scientific research, she spent most of her childhood in the wilderness of Northern Quebec. As a child, Margaret dreamed of becoming an artist. And although she ultimately chose a different creative profession, she designed many covers for her poetry books. In an interview, Atwood mentioned that she might return to painting when she retires. She graduated from school and university in Toronto, received a bachelor's degree in English. Atwood also attended Harvard University's Radcliffe College in Massachusetts. She is happily married to her second husband, writer Graham Gibson, with whom they have a daughter.
Creation
She has more than half a century of writing experience and has written poetry, short stories, fiction and popular science.
The first publications belong to collections of poetry. In 1990, in an interview with the Parisian Review, she admitted that some of her poems led to novels. The most striking works of the writer include the following: "The Story of Slaves", "The Edible Woman", "The Handmaid's Tale", "Nicknamed Grace", "The Blind Killer".
Her writings are influenced by her feminist and environmental views. In particular, Atwood has often been described by literary critics as a feminist writer, although she herself denies this. In her novels, she also tries to pay attention to environmental issues. Her dystopian trilogy Mad Addam, for example, depicts a world in which most of humanity was destroyed by natural disaster. Margaret's love for nature is also confirmed by her position as honorary president of the rare birds society and active participation in the green society.
The most famous literary work
"The Handmaid's Tale" was published in 1985, in the 21st century it received a new wave of fame. The events of the novel are presented to readers as a woman's autobiography in the near future of a new dystopian society. This novel has become one of the examples of the world's best dystopias. Critics classify it as science fiction, but the writer herself does not like to use this term. Reincarnated many times on stage and on screen, the novel received a new reading in the 2016 American TV series of the same name.
Most Honorable Margaret Atwood Awards
- Booker Prize - for the novel "The Blind Killer".
- Arthur Clarke Award - For The Handmaid's Tale.
- Prize of the Princess of Asturias - for achievements in literature.
- Prize of the Governor-General of Canada - for the collection of poems "The Circular Game", for the novel "The Handmaid's Tale".
