A prescient warning over what could be, the book chronicles a puritanical, theocratic dystopia in which a select group of fertile women - a condition which has become a rarity - are made to bear children for corporate male overlords. Several more books followed, yet it was 1985’s The Handmaid’s Tale that garnered Atwood a massive wave of acclaim and popularity. Atwood continued to publish poetry as well as the novels Surfacing (1973), Lady Oracle (1976) and Life Before Man (1980).

She then published her first novel, The Edible Woman, in 1969, a metaphoric, witty work about the social status of a woman about to wed.Ī tenacious spirit, Atwood would later describe taking Greyhound buses to read at gymnasiums and sell books. More poetry followed during the decade as seen with the books Talismans for Children (1965) and The Animals in That Country (1968). Poems Acclaimed Literary CareerĪtwood’s first published work was the pamphlet of poetry Double Persephone (1961), published via Hawkshead Press.

Over the course of her career, Atwood went on to teach at a variety of colleges and universities in both Canada and the United States. She then earned her master’s at Radcliffe the following year. Also growing up in Quebec and showing a passion for writing at an early age, Atwood eventually pursued her undergraduate studies at Victoria College at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1961. Early Life and EducationĪtwood was born on November 18, 1939, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to a nutritionist mother and entomologist father who fostered a love of nature. Her works have been translated into an array of different languages and seen several screen adaptations, with both Handmaid's Tale and Alias Grace becoming miniseries in 2017. Margaret Atwood is a Canadian writer who has written award-winning poetry, short stories and novels, including The Circle Game (1966), The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), The Blind Assassin (2000), Oryx and Crake (2003) and The Tent (2006).

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