BiographyMargaret 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. |
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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.
BMargaret Atwood Book List - 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
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)
