 |
 |
Books by
Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin
Reading Group Guides
The Blind Assassin
The Robber Bride
Alias Grace
Bodily Harm
Cat's Eye
The Edible Woman
The Handmaid's Tale
Lady Oracle
Life Before Man
Surfacing
|
|
|
Margaret Atwood
 Bio
Fast Facts
Trivia
Random House Website
Website
Buy the books!
Author Bibliography
More Margaret Atwood
ORYX AND CRAKE Review
Author Talk: ORYX AND CRAKE
Margaret Atwood's love for writing began early in life. At the age of six, she says she began writing "poems, morality plays, comic books and an unfinished novel about an ant." So it comes as little surprise that this literary girl would grow up to become one of Canada's major contemporary authors of fiction, poetry and essays. Among her most recent works are the bestselling novels The Robber Bride, Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin, in addition to the collections Wilderness Tips and Bluebeard's Egg.
In her latest novel, Oryx and Crake, Atwood invites her audience to enter the future of our own world, a bleak and terrifying place that has been destroyed in the wake of ecological and scientific disaster and is populated by characters who readers won't soon forget.
To celebrate the release of Oryx and Crake, AuthorsOnTheWeb has chosen Margaret Atwood as our Author of the Month. Readers can learn more about Atwood's life and works through trivia questions, fast facts and biographical information, as well as links to her website, bibliography, and book reviews.
|
Fast Facts
- Margaret first wrote about Grace Marks, the main character in Alias Grace, for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1974 when they asked her to write a play about the famous murderess.
- Though most of Margaret's recent books have had female protagonists, her latest novel, Oryx and Crake, has a male one. In an interview with Random House, Margaret says it was a conscious choice to make the main character male; after all, we all have different sides to ourselves.
- On Margaret's official website is a collection of cartoons that she draws and writes herself. They cover topics from writing to book tours.
- Margaret receives many requests from students and professors to interpret her own writing. She makes a point not to interpret her own work because she fears it will inhibit the reader from finding his or her own meaning. In order to help inquirers, though, Margaret's assistant will refer them to a published book of interviews with Margaret called Conversations, edited by Earl Ingersoll.
- The Margaret Atwood Society is an international association of scholars, teachers, students and others who share an interest in the work of Margaret Atwood. The Society's main goal is to promote scholarly study of Atwood's work by providing opportunities for members to exchange information and ideas. As an official MLA-Allied Organization, it meets annually in conjunction with the Modern Languages Association convention.
Back to top.
|
|
Bio
Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa in 1939 and grew up in northern Ontario and Quebec, and later in Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.
Ms. Atwood is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, short stories, poetry, literary criticism, social history and books for children. Much of her work is internationally acclaimed and has been published in over thirty-five countries. Some of her best-known novels include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996) and the 2000 Booker Prize winner, The Blind Assassin. Her latest novel is the stunning and provocative Oryx and Crake.
Ms. Atwood is the recipient of numerous honors, including The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence in the U.K., the National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature in the U.S., and Le Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. She also holds the distinction of being the first winner of the London Literary Prize and has received honorary degrees from universities across Canada, including one from Oxford University in England.
Ms. Atwood lives in Toronto with novelist Graeme Gibson. They have three grown children.
© Copyright 2003, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com. All rights reserved.
Back to top.
|
|
 
|
