The well-known writer Margaret Atwood has been pleasing her fans with new novels for almost sixty years, many of which have been awarded literary prizes and awards. Several of her works have been made into films, including the most famous novel, The Handmaid's Tale, which brought the author worldwide fame. Margaret published her first book in 1961, and her last novel will be released in 2114.
Biography
Margaret Atwood was born on November 18, 1939 in Ottawa (Canada). Her father was engaged in forest entomology research, and Margaret spent most of her childhood in northern Quebec, traveling between Ottawa, Toronto and Sault Ste. Marie.
Until eight years old, she did not attend a permanent school, so she became an avid reader of Grimm's tales, comics, and animal stories. She graduated in 1957 from Leaside High School in Toronto. In the same city she continued her studies at the university, in 1961 she received a bachelor's degree in English and French languages and philosophy.
Margaret began to compose plays and poems at the age of six; at sixteen she realized that she wanted to write professionally. She posted her poems and articles in the college journal literature Acta Victoriana. At the end of 1961, she published the Double Persephone poetry book and won the Pratt Medal, which allowed her to go to graduate school at Radcliffe College in Cambridge. In 1962, having received a master's degree, Margaret Atwood continued for two years doctoral studies at Harvard University.
Career
Since 1964, she taught English literature at the University of Vancouver, in 1965 at the University of Montreal. In 1967, Margaret, already an assistant professor of English literature, teaches at York University.
Since 1971 - Editor and Member of the Board of Directors at House of Anansi Press. She served as a resident writer at York University from 1971 to 1972 and the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa in 1985.
In 1986, Margaret was a visiting professor of English at New York University. In 1987, he works as a resident writer at Macquarie University (Australia).
Canadian writer Margaret Atwood is also the inventor and developer of LongPen and its related technologies. She is the co-founder and director of Syngrafii Inc. - A company established in 2004 to develop and distribute LongPen.
Social work
In the early 1970s, Margaret, as editor of Anancy Press and political cartoonist Zis Magazine, made a major contribution to the revival of Canadian literature. In 1972, Atwood published a study on Canadian literature, Survival.
In the 80s, Margaret took an active part in the fight against totalitarianism and censorship, being a member of Amnesty International and holding the post of vice chairman of the Association of Writers of Canada since 1980, and since 1984, the post of president of the Canadian PEN Center.
Poetic collections
At a time when Margaret Atwood was already known as a novelist, she published fifteen collections of poetry, including Talismans for Children (1965) and The Animals in That Country (1968). In 1980, her “Suzanne Moody Diaries” became a poetic arrangement for the autobiographical sketches of the first settlers of Ontario. On the metaphors of "isolation" verses are built, which are included in the collection Procedures for Underground, published in 1970.
In the poetry collection "Politics from a Position of Strength", published in 1971, the writer sarcastically speaks of her warlike feminism. Margaret continues to develop this theme in a collection published in 1974, “You Are Happy,” in which, having remade the Homeric Odyssey, she writes on behalf of Circe, revising mythological images from feminist positions.
The content of the collection “True Stories”, published in 1981, determined Margaret's social activities.
Storybooks
Atwood published short stories in the magazines Tamarack Review, Alphabet, Harper's Magazine, and many others. In 1973, a compilation of short stories was comprehended. Margaret reflected the theme of “gender-based” violence in her 1984 book Murder in the Dark.
The book "Secondary Words", published in 1982, includes articles and reviews by Margaret Atwood. In the book "Bluebeard Castle", published in 1983, the author reveals the misogyny of fairy-tale images. In 1991, a collection of short stories Wilderness Tips, in 1992 - Good Bones.
Atwood novels
In 1968, Margaret published her first novel, The Edible Woman, a metaphorical, witty story of a girl who is about to get married. Soon she felt like a trophy to the groom, doing everything according to the rules of her circle. Marian, the heroine of the novel, does not eat anything that was alive. Soon, the carrot seems alive to her. The girl feels that she is losing herself, her identity and will soon be eaten by Peter, her fiance.
In 1976, Madame Oracle was released, about a girl who had staged her death and fled to the other side of the ocean, where she recalls the past. Life Before Man, published in 1979, talks about the love triangle. It would seem that it could be more commonplace? But if we are talking about the work of Atwood, you can forget about everyday life. The view of this author on the relationship between people is not like any other.
The action of the novel "Injury", released in 1982, takes place on one of the Caribbean islands, during political unrest. The author’s conviction here is that all people are responsible for lawlessness. In 1985, the novel “The Handmaid's Tale”, which brought the author popularity, was released.
Gilead Republic
Margaret Atwood's book, The Handmaid's Tale, which has been awarded several awards, including the Booker Prize, talks about the totalitarian state of the future - the Republic of Gilead. In the new republic, wars are constantly going on, the birth rate is greatly reduced, and the country's leaders regard women as property. Here, only one in a hundred women can have a child. Therefore, commoners are sent to special centers where they are prepared for only one thing - to conceive and have a baby.
In Gilead, women do not have the rights to property and work, to reading and writing. They cannot love and marry again. Women turned into slaves. Fredova, the heroine of the novel, tells an unthinkable story. She no longer has a husband, no daughter, not even a name. The fact that her name is now speaks only of belonging to the owner, whose name is Fred. She was even stripped of her clothes. Instead of dresses, now there is only a red hoodie, symbolizing fertility.
She is a servant. She is not supposed to remember, talk. Once a day, you are allowed to go shopping, once a month - to meet with the owner and pray that they will have a healthy child. Unable to give birth to slaves are declared "non-women" and sent to camps, where they quickly die.
All the abomination of the new world is covered by God's laws and quotes from the Bible. The police are “defenders of the faith,” cars are “chariots,” and soldiers are “angels.” Shops have biblical names. But religious terminology in this world is nothing more than an attempt to cover up political swindle. Selecting books, they tell women that it is for their benefit, so as not to be upset. They turned off the radio and TV - again, caring for women, so as not to think about the bad.
The theme of Margaret Atwood’s novel “The Handmaid's Tale” is the status of women in society. About how thin the line between tyranny and protection. About how easy it is to kill freedom of thought and choice. About how easy it is to subordinate a person. An active fighter against totalitarianism, the author of this nerve-burning novel seems to be saying: “Don't let yourself be blinded!”
Other books
Margaret has written novels such as Cat's Eye, published in 1989. For the novel "Blind Killer", released in 1989, the author was awarded three awards, including the prestigious Booker Prize. Margaret talks about the fate of mankind in the new millennium in the Trilogy of Mad Addam. It included novels: Oryx and Korostel, marked by the Booker Prize, Year of the Flood, and Crazy Addam.
In addition to Penelopede (2005) and The Tent (2006), Margaret has published an essay book, “On Other Worlds: SF,” which explores the nuances of the fantasy genre. In 2016, Atwood published the graphic novel Angel Catbird, dedicated to Canadian artist D. Cristom, who talks about the superhero adventures of a genetic engineer.
Witchbirth is the first novel from a series of retelling of Shakespeare’s plays invented by the book publisher. For retelling Margaret Atwood chose his most difficult text - "The Tempest". The protagonist is removed from the leadership of the theater festival, and he leaves. He lives alone in the wilderness, talking with the ghost of a deceased daughter. After many years, he finds work in a colony where he staged Shakespearean plays. When his offenders come to his performance in full force, he comes up with revenge - a theatrical adventure with an unexpected ending.
In 2014, the project of the Scottish artist K. Paterson - "Library of the Future" was launched. Once a year for a century, manuscripts of modern writers will be transferred to a specially created library. Not far from Oslo, one thousand trees were planted for printing books. But these trees will be cut down only after a hundred years - in 2114. Over the course of the century, the list of books will be replenished with an unpublished work, and it will be possible to read them in the same 2114th.
The intrigue is that most authors have not yet been born, but the first writer to submit his manuscript in 2014 was Margaret Atwood with the book It's Scribbler Moon, the contents and plot of which will become known only after a hundred years.