Reading Recommendations MARGARET ATWOOD 80 Erika Puusemp
Miina Härma Gymnasium, Tartu
On 18 November 2019, Margaret Eleanor Atwood, the well-known Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, inventor, teacher, and environmental activist, will turn 80. Atwood has been productive for decades and is still very much active in all her favourite fields, being the author of more than 50 books of fiction, poetry and critical essays, raising awareness of environmental issues, and teaching creative writing. Amongst the variety of themes Atwood writes on, her dystopian novels deal with issues extremely relevant today, especially her MaddAddam trilogy, and The Handmaid’s Tale (first published in 1985), and these are the ones for which she has been dubbed “the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction” by fans. The year 2019 has brought two welcome additions to the libraries of those who love The Handmaid’s Tale, or Atwood’s work in general, or dystopian literature, or Canadian literature as such – Atwood has published a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale – The Testaments, and The Handmaid’s Tale has been turned into a graphic novel (art and adaptation by Renee Nault). The graphic novel is a beautifully-crafted artistic rendition of the original novel. Some choice bits can be seen online at: https://lithub.com/read-from-the-graphic-novelization-of-the-handmaids-tale/ The Testaments tells the story of Gilead 15 years after the final scene in The Handmaid’s Tale through three distinctive female voices: Aunt Lydia, a key figure in the 1985 novel, and two younger ones, one being prepared for her role as a Commander’s wife in Gilead, the other living in Canada, horrified of what is happening in Gilead. All are worth a read or a re-read, so let’s celebrate Atwood’s 80th birthday by getting lost in one of the worlds she has created (and being happy that, no matter how bad it is in our world, it’s not that kind of bad, at least).
For more details, see Margaret Atwood’s homepage: http://margaretatwood.ca/ 52