Welcome
The Margaret Atwood Society is an international association of scholars, teachers, and students who share an interest in Atwood’s work. The main goal of the Society is to promote scholarly exchange of the writer’s work by providing opportunities for scholars to exchange information. To let us know about current Atwood-scholarship-related news or events, please email us the appropriate information. If you’d like to join the society, please see the About page for a membership form and additional information.
Special Note: We often receive queries about how to contact Ms. Atwood. We are unable to forward your message to her—we do not correspond with her directly. See her official website on the links page, where she provides an address for queries.
Modern Language Association Sessions
The Atwood Society plans to sponsor two sessions at the 2009 MLA meeting in Philadelphia: “Margaret Atwood on Politics and Economics” and “Margaret Atwood’s Most Recent Work.”
See the Calls for Papers page for more information!
Birthday Readathon
Happy Birthday to Margaret Atwood
Let’s celebrate! Pick up a short story, novel, poem, or nonfiction piece in honor of this esteemed author, and then tell us what you read.
Laurentian University Hosts Atwood Birthday Celebration
Four years ago in November the Department of English at Laurentian University held the first Margaret Atwood Birthday Dinner to celebrate the life and work of Canada’s premier writer. This year, on November 13th, Margaret Atwood herself attended to the delight of a sold out hall of 240 dinner guests. Reading from her newest work, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (Toronto: Anansi, 2008), Ms. Atwood also treated guests to some impromptu joking and a concluding comment that events such as the dinner at Laurentian U, in its uniqueness, provide real assurance that Canadian culture is thriving.
With proceeds going to a proposed Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre on campus, the evening’s program included a welcome and blessing of the food by a Native elder, and an honour song by a Native women’s drumming group. Such traditional food as venison stew and wild rice was served. Before Ms. Atwood spoke, well-known Sudbury actor Pandora Topp performed a monologue by Canada’s foremost indigenous playwright, Tomson Highway. Following dinner and the program, Ms. Atwood signed copies of fans’ books for approximately an hour.
The original purpose of the Margaret Atwood Birthday dinners was to create an occasion for fans throughout the world to meet on or near the date of her birth, November 18th, to celebrate together by eating appropriate foods, drinking appropriate drinks, sharing stories, reading favourite passages, and toasting her life and work. Considering the impact Ms. Atwood’s writing has had on so many people in so many countries, we in the English Department at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada believe that these dinners are and will continue to be a fitting tribute. For posting on our website, we welcome news of yours.
Annual Award Submissions Due December 1st
Just a reminder: submissions for the annual society awards are due December 1st. Please see the Awards page for more information.
Audio: Margaret Atwood discusses Payback (on BBC)
Originally aired 4 November 2008.
Sneak Peek
For your reading pleasure: (”adapted”) excerpt in The Wall Street Journal on the forthcoming Payback.
Forthcoming Publications
Announcing Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (Massey Lectures), scheduled for publication November 2008.
And scheduled for publication in 2009: a new novel!
“New Classics” Recognition for The Handmaid’s Tale
Entertainment Weekly ranks The Handmaid’s Tale #1 on their list of the best book covers of the past 25 years (the novel itself is ranked sixteenth on the “New Classics” book list).
