Margaret Atwood, one of Canada’s most influential authors, was born in Ottawa, 85 years ago yesterday, on November 18, 1939.
Due to her father’s research work in forest entomology, Atwood spent much of her childhood in northern Ontario and Quebec, travelling back and forth between Ottawa, Toronto and Sault Ste. Marie.
“I read for pleasure and that is the moment I learn the most.” ~ Margaret Atwood.
Here, Margaret is pictured here attempting to burn an 'unburnable' copy of her novel "The Handmaid's Tale" with a flamethrower. A single unburnable copy was created to raise awareness about increasing censorship; her dystopian science fiction novel, which centers around one woman's quest for freedom in a totalitarian theocracy where women's rights are completely suppressed, has been the subject of numerous censorship challenges since its publication in 1985. The unburnable copy was auctioned off after her flamethrowing attempt, raising $130,000 for PEN America, a literary and free expression advocacy organization. As Margaret famously asserted in her poem "Spelling": "A word after a word after a word is power."
I have thought often of The Handmaid’s Tale lately. Of course today’s political climate in the US has been the driving force behind my thoughts.