The Michigan Quarterly Review is an American literary magazine founded in 1962 and published at the University of Michigan , Ann Arbor .
76-570: The quarterly (known as "MQR" for short) publishes art, essays, interviews, memoirs, fiction, poetry, and book reviews as well as writing "in a wide variety of research areas", according to its Web site. Starting in 1979, with a special issue on the subject of "The Moon Landing and Its Aftermath", one issue each year is given over entirely to a special theme. MQR's special issues include "The Automobile and American Culture," "Detroit: An American City," "Contemporary American Fiction," "The Female Body," "The Male Body," and "Bridges to Cuba". In recent years
152-434: A "belief in the rights of women" and averred that "if practical, hardline, anti-male feminists took over and became the government, I would resist them." In 2017, she clarified her discomfort with the label feminism by stating, "I always want to know what people mean by that word [feminism]. Some people mean it quite negatively, other people mean it very positively, some people mean it in a broad sense, other people mean it in
228-712: A $ 15,000 prize from the Canada Council ; today's winners receive $ 25,000 and a medallion struck by the Royal Canadian Mint . In addition, two complementary awards are given: The Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts, recognizing the voluntary services to the performing arts by an individual or group, and the National Arts Centre Award, which recognizes an individual artist's or company's work during
304-408: A 2016 petition calling for an independent investigation into the firing of Steven Galloway , a former University of British Columbia professor accused of sexual harassment and assault by a student. While feminist critics denounced Atwood for her support of Galloway, Atwood asserted that her signature was in support of due process in the legal system. She has been criticized for her comments surrounding
380-483: A broader profile to the "nation's table"; Leadership, recognizing those who led others to form stronger communities connected to the food and beverage industries; Mentorship and Inspiration, recognizing role models in the food and beverage industries; Stewardship and Sustainability, recognizing those who were at the forefront of developing and/or practicing safeguards around the environment, food security, and health; and Youth, recognizing young Canadians who have demonstrated
456-416: A case for evil behavior, but unless you have some women characters portrayed as evil characters, you're not playing with a full range." The Robber Bride takes place in contemporary Toronto, while Alias Grace is a work of historical fiction detailing the 1843 murders of Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery. Atwood had previously written the 1974 CBC made-for-TV film The Servant Girl , about
532-684: A collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada , recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the Lord Tweedsmuir , a prolific writer of fiction and non-fiction; he created the Governor General's Literary Award with two award categories. Successive governors general have followed suit, establishing an award for whichever endeavour they personally found important. Only Adrienne Clarkson created three Governor General's Awards:
608-463: A collection of poems exploring absences and endings, ageing and retrospection, and gifts and renewals. The central poem, Dearly , was also published in The Guardian newspaper along with an essay exploring the passing of time, grief, and how a poem belongs to the reader; this is accompanied by an audio recording of Atwood reading the poem on the newspaper's website. Atwood's contributions to
684-502: A discussion with science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin : "What Le Guin means by 'science fiction' is what I mean by 'speculative fiction', and what she means by 'fantasy' would include what I mean by 'science fiction'." She added that genre borders were increasingly fluid, and that all forms of "SF" might be placed under a common umbrella. In 2024 the Republican-dominated Utah Legislature passed
760-483: A few steps further down the road. So it doesn't come out of nowhere, it comes out of real life." With her novel Scribbler Moon , Atwood is the first contributor to the Future Library project . The work, completed in 2015, was ceremonially handed over to the project on May 27 of the same year. The book will be held by the project until its eventual publishing in 2114. She thinks that readers will probably need
836-663: A former dietitian and nutritionist from Woodville, Nova Scotia . Because of her father's research in forest entomology , Atwood spent much of her childhood in the backwoods of northern Quebec , and traveling back and forth between Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie and Toronto . She did not attend school full-time until she was 12 years old. She became a voracious reader of literature, Dell pocketbook mysteries, Grimms' Fairy Tales , Canadian animal stories, and comic books . She attended Leaside High School in Leaside , Toronto, and graduated in 1957. Atwood began writing plays and poems at
SECTION 10
#1732781050835912-552: A law mandating the removal of books deemed objectionable from all Utah public schools. On August 2, 2024, the Utah State School Board released its first list of objectionable books. One book on this list was penned by Atwood ( Oryx and Crake ). Atwood repeatedly makes observations about the relationships of humans to animals in her works. A large portion of the dystopia Atwood creates in Oryx and Crake concerns
988-497: A lot of new and different things." She later cautions in the acknowledgements to MaddAddam , "Although MaddAddam is a work of fiction, it does not include any technologies or bio-beings that do not already exist, are not under construction or are not possible in theory." In 2005, Atwood published the novella The Penelopiad as part of the Canongate Myth Series . The story is a retelling of The Odyssey from
1064-482: A master's degree (MA) from Radcliffe in 1962 and pursued doctoral studies for two years, but did not finish her dissertation, The English Metaphysical Romance . Atwood has a sister, Ruth Atwood, born in 1951, and a brother who is two years older, Harold Leslie Atwood. She has claimed that, according to her grandmother (maiden name Webster), the 17th-century witchcraft-lynching survivor Mary Webster might have been an ancestor : "On Monday, my grandmother would say Mary
1140-479: A more specific sense. Therefore, in order to answer the question, you have to ask the person what they mean." Speaking to The Guardian , she said "For instance, some feminists have historically been against lipstick and letting transgender women into women's washrooms . Those are not positions I have agreed with", a position she repeated to The Irish Times . In an interview with Penguin Books, Atwood stated that
1216-552: A paleo-anthropologist to translate some parts of her story. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, Atwood said, "There's something magical about it. It's like Sleeping Beauty . The texts are going to slumber for 100 years and then they'll wake up, come to life again. It's a fairytale length of time. She slept for 100 years." In early 2004, while on the paperback tour in Denver for her novel Oryx and Crake , Atwood conceived
1292-541: A positive impact in Canada and beyond". These can have been developed in the public, private, or non-profit realms, but applicants must demonstrate the impact of their innovations; imapacts cannot be theoretical. The awards are also not intended for lifetime achievement. Administered by the Rideau Hall Foundation (also established by Johnston), six awards are given annually; winners are selected on merit by
1368-655: A potential to improve the quality, variety, awareness, and sustainability of the food and beverage industries. An advisory committee of food and beverage experts reviews nominations. Recipients receive a lapel pin and a framed certificate bearing the heraldic shield of the Governor General's Award in Celebration of the Nation's Table. Governor General David Johnston created the Governor General's Innovation Awards in 2016 for Canadians who have created "exceptional and transformational Canadian innovations, which are creating
1444-514: A precedent in real life for everything in the book. I decided not to put anything in that somebody somewhere hadn't already done." While reviewers and critics have been tempted to read autobiographical elements of Atwood's life in her work, particularly Cat's Eye , in general Atwood resists the desire of critics to read too closely for an author's life in their writing. Filmmaker Michael Rubbo 's Margaret Atwood: Once in August (1984) details
1520-525: A rabbit. Marian stops eating meat but then later returns to it. In Cat's Eye , the narrator recognizes the similarity between a turkey and a baby. She looks at "the turkey, which resembles a trussed, headless baby. It has thrown off its disguise as a meal and has revealed itself to me for what it is, a large dead bird." In Atwood's Surfacing , a dead heron represents purposeless killing and prompts thoughts about other senseless deaths. Governor General%27s Award The Governor General's Awards are
1596-552: A relationship with fellow novelist Graeme Gibson soon afterward and moved to a farm near Alliston, Ontario , where their daughter, Eleanor Jess Atwood Gibson, was born in 1976. The family returned to Toronto in 1980. Atwood and Gibson were together until September 18, 2019, when Gibson died after suffering from dementia . She wrote about Gibson in the poem Dearly and in an accompanying essay on grief and poetry published in The Guardian in 2020. Atwood said about Gibson "He wasn't an egotist, so he wasn't threatened by anything I
SECTION 20
#17327810508351672-691: A sequel to The Handmaid's Tale , in September 2019. The novel features three female narrators and takes place fifteen years after the character Offred's final scene in The Handmaid's Tale . The book was the joint winner of the 2019 Booker Prize . In 2008, Atwood published Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth , a collection of five lectures delivered as part of the Massey Lectures from October 12 to November 1, 2008. The book
1748-718: A two-stage process. The Governor General's Innovation Awards receive both public and private financial support and are partnered with various organizations across Canada. The founding partners were the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General , the Rideau Hall Foundation, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation. The Globe and Mail
1824-702: A very early age. Atwood is a founder of the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Writers' Trust of Canada . She is also a Senior Fellow of Massey College, Toronto . She is the inventor of the LongPen device and associated technologies that facilitate remote robotic writing of documents. Atwood was born on November 18, 1939, in Ottawa , Ontario , Canada, the second of three children of Carl Edmund Atwood, an entomologist , and Margaret Dorothy (née Killam),
1900-549: A view-narrowing disservice to students of Canadian literature. In Survival , Atwood postulates that Canadian literature, and by extension Canadian identity, is characterized by the symbol of survival. This symbol is expressed in the omnipresent use of "victim positions" in Canadian literature. These positions represent a scale of self-consciousness and self-actualization for the victim in the "victor/victim" relationship. The "victor" in these scenarios may be other humans, nature,
1976-691: A writer continued to grow with the publication of the novels The Robber Bride (1993), finalist for the 1994 Governor General's Award and shortlisted for the James Tiptree Jr. Award , and Alias Grace (1996), winner of the 1996 Giller Prize , finalist for the 1996 Booker Prize , finalist for the 1996 Governor General's Award , and shortlisted for the 1997 Orange Prize for Fiction . Although vastly different in context and form, both novels use female characters to question good and evil and morality through their portrayal of female villains. As Atwood noted about The Robber Bride , "I'm not making
2052-450: Is a Canadian novelist, poet, and literary critic . Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction , nine collections of short fiction, eight children's books, two graphic novels , and a number of small press editions of both poetry and fiction. Her best-known work is the 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale . Atwood has won numerous awards and honors for her writing, including two Booker Prizes ,
2128-416: Is a founding trustee of the Griffin Poetry Prize , as well as a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada , a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community. She has called Mona Awad , a Canadian novelist and short-story writer, her "literary heir apparent". Atwood's work has been of interest to feminist literary critics, despite Atwood's unwillingness at times to apply
2204-637: Is sponsored by University of Michigan alumnus and writer Leonard S. Bernstein, a trustee of the Lawrence Foundation of New York. This article about a literary magazine published in the US is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See tips for writing articles about magazines . Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page . Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood CC OOnt CH FRSC FRSL (born on November 18, 1939)
2280-762: The Utne Reader . The Best American Poetry series frequently reprints poems that originally appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review . The magazine won the Utne Reader Award for "Writing Excellence" in 2001. Since 1978, the $ 2,000 Lawrence Prize in fiction is awarded annually to the best story published in MQR that year. Past winners include Charles Baxter , Paul Bowles , Susan Dodd, Clark Blaise , Sena Jeter Naslund , Rebecca Makkai , Alice Mattison , and Lynne Sharon Schwartz . The prize
2356-492: The Arthur C. Clarke Award and 1985 Governor General's Award and finalist for the 1986 Booker Prize ; and Cat's Eye (1988), finalist for both the 1988 Governor General's Award and the 1989 Booker Prize . Despite her distaste for literary labels, Atwood has since conceded to referring to The Handmaid's Tale as a work of science fiction or, more precisely, speculative fiction . As she has repeatedly noted, "There's
Michigan Quarterly Review - Misplaced Pages Continue
2432-717: The Arthur C. Clarke Award , the Governor General's Award , the Franz Kafka Prize , Princess of Asturias Awards , and the National Book Critics and PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Awards. A number of her works have been adapted for film and television. Atwood's works encompass a variety of themes including gender and identity, religion and myth, the power of language, climate change, and "power politics". Many of her poems are inspired by myths and fairy tales which interested her from
2508-418: The performing arts , in the categories of dance , classical music , popular music , film , broadcasting , and theatre . They were initiated in 1992 by Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn and the first recipients were William Hutt , Gweneth Lloyd , Dominique Michel , Mercedes Palomino , Oscar Peterson , Léopold Simoneau , Norman Jewison , and Gilles Maheu and CARBONE 14. Initially, the award came with
2584-502: The "quality, variety and sustainability of all elements and ingredients of our nation's table". Jean and Lafond consulted with many across Canada involved in the production of food products, as well as chefs, organizers of culinary festivals, sommeliers, and more. The award has six categories: Creativity and Innovation, recognizing those who contributed original, forward-thinking ideas, products, or techniques related to food or drink; Education and Awareness, recognizing those who helped give
2660-904: The # MeToo movement , particularly that it is a "symptom of a broken legal system". In 2018, following a partnership between Hulu 's adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale and women's rights organisation Equality Now , Atwood was honored at their 2018 Make Equality Reality Gala. In her acceptance speech she said: I am, of course, not a real activist—I'm simply a writer without a job who is frequently asked to speak about subjects that would get people with jobs fired if they themselves spoke. You, however, at Equality Now are real activists. I hope people will give Equality Now lots and lots of money, today, so they can write equal laws, enact equal laws and see that equal laws are implemented. That way, in time, all girls may be able to grow up believing that there are no avenues that are closed to them simply because they are girls. In 2019, Atwood partnered with Equality Now for
2736-485: The Arts funds and administers the awards. Six prizes are awarded annually to visual and media artists for distinguished career achievement in fine arts (painting, drawing, photography, print-making and sculpture, including installation and other three-dimensional work), applied arts (architecture and fine crafts), independent film and video, or audio and new media. One prize is awarded annually for outstanding contributions to
2812-926: The Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, the Governor General's Northern Medal, and the Governor General's Medal in Architecture (though this was effectively a continuation of the Massey Medal, first established in 1950). Inaugurated in 1937 for 1936 publications in two categories, the Governor General's Literary Awards have become one of Canada's most prestigious prizes. Since 1987, there are thirteen awards: nonfiction ( English and French ), fiction ( English and French ), poetry ( English and French ), drama ( English and French ), young people's literature – text ( English and French ), young people's literature – illustration ( English and French ), and translation. The program
2888-403: The Governor General's Awards and presented to the winners at a separate ceremony, made its initial announcements of award winners as part of the Governor General's Awards announcements in this era. In 1957, the awards were put under the administration of the Canada Council for the Arts and a cash prize began to be granted to the winner. By 1980, the council began to announce the finalists for
2964-784: The Governor General's History Awards: the Governor General's History Awards for Excellence in Teaching, the Governor General's History Award for Scholarly Research (Sir John A. Macdonald Prize), the Governor General's History Award for Popular Media (Pierre Berton Award), the Governor General's History Award for Excellence in Museums, and the Governor General's History Awards for Excellence in Community Programming. The Governor General's Awards in Visual Arts and Media Arts were first presented in 2000. The Canada Council for
3040-577: The MaddAddam Trilogy. The apocalyptic vision in the MaddAddam Trilogy engages themes of genetic modification, pharmaceutical and corporate control, and man-made disaster. As a work of speculative fiction, Atwood notes of the technology in Oryx and Crake , "I think, for the first time in human history, we see where we might go. We can see far enough into the future to know that we can't go on the way we've been going forever without inventing, possibly,
3116-641: The age of 6. As a child, she also participated in the Brownie program of Girl Guides of Canada . Atwood has written about her experiences in Girl Guides in several of her publications. Atwood realized she wanted to write professionally when she was 16. In 1957, she began studying at Victoria College in the University of Toronto , where she published poems and articles in Acta Victoriana ,
Michigan Quarterly Review - Misplaced Pages Continue
3192-411: The awards a month before they were presented, in order to attract more media attention, and, in 2007, the cash prize was increased to $ 25,000. Prior to Adrienne Clarkson 's time as governor general, the collection of Governor General's Literary Award-winning books at Rideau Hall was lacking more than 25 per cent of the full collection. Clarkson made an effort to obtain from fairs and second hand shops
3268-474: The college literary journal, and participated in the sophomore theatrical tradition of The Bob Comedy Revue . Her professors included Jay Macpherson and Northrop Frye . She graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Arts in English (honours) and minors in philosophy and French. In 1961, Atwood began graduate studies at Radcliffe College of Harvard University , with a Woodrow Wilson fellowship. She obtained
3344-520: The concept of a remote robotic writing technology, what would later be known as the LongPen , that would enable a person to remotely write in ink anywhere in the world via tablet PC and the Internet, thus allowing her to conduct her book tours without being physically present. She quickly founded a company, Unotchit Inc., to develop, produce and distribute this technology. By 2011, the company shifted its market focus into business and legal transactions and
3420-911: The course of the decade: The Journals of Susanna Moodie (1970), Procedures for Underground (1970), Power Politics (1971), You Are Happy (1974), Selected Poems 1965–1975 (1976), and Two-Headed Poems (1978). Atwood also published three novels during this time: Surfacing (1972); Lady Oracle (1976); and Life Before Man (1979), which was a finalist for the Governor General's Award . Surfacing , Lady Oracle , and Life Before Man , like The Edible Woman , explore identity and social constructions of gender as they relate to topics such as nationhood and sexual politics. In particular, Surfacing , along with her first non-fiction monograph, Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature (1972), helped establish Atwood as an important and emerging voice in Canadian literature. In 1977 Atwood published her first short story collection, Dancing Girls , which
3496-464: The driving question throughout her writing of The Handmaid's Tale was "If you were going to shove women back into the home and deprive them of all of these gains that they thought they had made, how would you do it?", but related this question to totalitarianism , not feminism. In January 2018, Atwood penned the op-ed "Am I a Bad Feminist?" for The Globe and Mail . The piece was in response to social media backlash related to Atwood's signature on
3572-460: The expression of Canadian identity. According to this literature, Canadian identity has been defined by a fear of nature, by settler history, and by unquestioned adherence to the community. In an interview with the Scottish critic Bill Findlay in 1979, Atwood discussed the relationship of Canadian writers and writing to the 'Imperial Cultures' of America and Britain . Atwood's contribution to
3648-878: The filmmaker's frustration in uncovering autobiographical evidence and inspiration in Atwood's works. During the 1980s, Atwood continued to teach, serving as the MFA Honorary Chair at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa , 1985; the Berg Professor of English, New York University , 1986; Writer-in-Residence, Macquarie University , Australia, 1987; and Writer-in-Residence, Trinity University , San Antonio, Texas, 1989. Regarding her stints with teaching, she has noted, "Success for me meant no longer having to teach at university." Atwood's reputation as
3724-761: The genetic modification and alteration of animals and humans, resulting in hybrids such as pigoons, rakunks, wolvogs and Crakers, raising questions on the limits and ethics of science and technology, and on what it means to be human. In Surfacing , one character remarks about eating animals: "The animals die that we may live, they are substitute people ... And we eat them, out of cans or otherwise; we are eaters of death, dead Christ-flesh resurrecting inside us, granting us life." Some characters in her books link sexual oppression to meat-eating and consequently give up meat-eating. In The Edible Woman , Atwood's character Marian identifies with hunted animals and cries after hearing her fiancé's experience of hunting and eviscerating
3800-535: The label ' feminist ' to her works. Starting with the publication of her first novel, The Edible Woman , Atwood asserted, "I don't consider it feminism; I just consider it social realism." Despite her rejection of the label at times, critics have analyzed the sexual politics, use of myth and fairytale, and gendered relationships in Atwood's work through the lens of feminism. Before the 1985 publication of The Handmaid's Tale , Atwood gave an interview to feminist theorist Elizabeth Meese in which she defined feminism as
3876-581: The life of Grace Marks , the young servant who, along with James McDermott, was convicted of the crime. Atwood continued her poetry contributions by publishing Snake Woman in 1999 for the Women's Literature journal Kalliope. In 2000, Atwood published her tenth novel, The Blind Assassin , to critical acclaim, winning both the Booker Prize and the Hammett Prize in 2000. The Blind Assassin
SECTION 50
#17327810508353952-658: The magazine has published nonfiction by Margaret Atwood , Carol Gilligan , David M. Halperin , Douglas Hofstadter , Maxine Hong Kingston , Toni Morrison , Joyce Carol Oates , Amos Oz , Richard Rorty , John Updike , William Julius Wilson and Dimitris Lyacos and fiction by Sergio Troncoso , Elizabeth Gaffney , Bonnie Jo Campbell , Alice Mattison , Garth Greenwell , Peter Mountford , Kalisha Buckhanon , Eileen Pollack , Peter Orner , Douglas Trevor , Steve Amick , Corinne Demas , Lauren Belfer , and Jacob Appel . The magazine's contents are often reprinted in prize anthologies, textbooks, magazines such as Harper's and
4028-439: The missing copies for the governor general's study and, when she left the viceregal office in 2005, the complete collection of winning books to date had been amassed. It reached 552 books by late 2006 and was moved to Rideau Hall's library. Today it forms the only complete collection of Governor General's Literary Award winners in existence. The Governor General's Medals in Architecture have been presented since 1982, continuing
4104-525: The past performance year. There is also a mentorship program that connects award recipients with artists in their early to mid-career. Since 2008, the National Film Board of Canada has produced short films about each of the laureates, which are screened at the awards ceremony and streamed online. Governor General Roméo LeBlanc and Canada's National History Society created the Governor General's History Awards in 1996 to honour excellence in
4180-486: The perspective of Penelope and a chorus of the twelve maids murdered at the end of the original tale. The Penelopiad was given a theatrical production in 2007. In 2016, Atwood published the novel Hag-Seed , a modern-day retelling of Shakespeare 's The Tempest , as part of Penguin Random House 's Hogarth Shakespeare Series. On November 28, 2018, Atwood announced that she would publish The Testaments ,
4256-445: The promotion of equality for girls and women in Canada. Five awards are given annually to candidates chosen from across the country, in addition to one award to a Canadian youth. The awards are administered by Status of Women Canada and may be presented to persons of any gender; in 2008, Ben Barry became the first man to win the award. The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards are the foremost honours presented for excellence in
4332-706: The release of The Testaments . Atwood has resisted the suggestion that The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake are science fiction, suggesting to The Guardian in 2003 that they are speculative fiction : "Science fiction has monsters and spaceships; speculative fiction could really happen." She told the Book of the Month Club : " Oryx and Crake is a speculative fiction, not a science fiction proper. It contains no intergalactic space travel, no teleportation, no Martians ." On BBC Breakfast , she explained that science fiction, as opposed to what she herself wrote,
4408-530: The superhero comic book series Angel Catbird , with co-creator and illustrator Johnnie Christmas. The series protagonist, scientist Strig Feleedus, is victim of an accidental mutation that leaves him with the body parts and powers of both a cat and a bird. As with her other works, Atwood notes of the series, "The kind of speculative fiction about the future that I write is always based on things that are in process right now. So it's not that I imagine them, it's that I notice that people are working on them and I take it
4484-470: The teaching of Canadian history . The society then, working with other Canadian history organizations (including the Begbie Society, Canadian Historical Association , Canadian Museums Association , and Historica-Dominion Institute ), expanded the scope of the awards beyond simply school teachers to include others who taught history in other ways and venues. There are now five specific awards within
4560-428: The terms interchangeably: "For me, the science fiction label belongs on books with things in them that we can't yet do ... Speculative fiction means a work that employs the means already to hand and that takes place on Planet Earth." She said that science fiction narratives give a writer the ability to explore themes in ways that realistic fiction cannot. Atwood further clarified her definitions of terms in 2011, in
4636-476: The theorizing of Canada is not limited to her non-fiction works. Several of her works, including The Journals of Susanna Moodie , Alias Grace , The Blind Assassin and Surfacing , are examples of what postmodern literary theorist Linda Hutcheon calls " historiographic metafiction ". In such works, Atwood explicitly explores the relation of history and narrative and the processes of creating history. Among her contributions to Canadian literature, Atwood
SECTION 60
#17327810508354712-501: The theorizing of Canadian identity have garnered attention both in Canada and internationally. Her principal work of literary criticism, Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature , is considered somewhat outdated, but remains a standard introduction to Canadian literature in Canadian studies programs internationally. Writer and academic Joseph Pivato has criticised the continued reprinting of Survival by Anansi Press as
4788-628: The tradition of the Massey Medals for Architecture , which had been awarded between 1950 and 1970. Up to twelve medals are awarded every two years, with no distinction among the medals awarded. The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada administers the competition. The Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case have been presented since their creation by Governor General Edward Schreyer in 1979, and honour
4864-426: The visual or media arts in a volunteer or professional capacity. The value of each award is $ 15,000. An independent peer jury of senior visual and media arts professionals selects the winners. Conceived in 2006 by Jean-Daniel Lafond , husband of Governor General Michaëlle Jean , the Governor General's Award in Celebration of the Nation's Table was created to recognize Canadians—as individuals or in groups—who improved
4940-461: The wilderness or other external and internal factors which oppress the victim. Atwood's Survival bears the influence of Northrop Frye 's theory of garrison mentality ; Atwood uses Frye's concept of Canada's desire to wall itself off from outside influence as a critical tool to analyze Canadian literature. According to her theories in works such as Survival and her exploration of similar themes in her fiction, Atwood considers Canadian literature as
5016-429: Was "talking squids in outer space." The latter phrase particularly rankled advocates of science fiction and frequently recurs when her writing is discussed. In 2005, Atwood said that she did at times write social science fiction and that The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake could be designated as such. She clarified her meaning on the difference between speculative and science fiction, admitting that others used
5092-584: Was also nominated for the Governor General's Award in 2000, Orange Prize for Fiction , and the International Dublin Literary Award in 2002. In 2001, Atwood was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame . Atwood followed this success with the publication of Oryx and Crake in 2003, the first novel in a series that also includes The Year of the Flood (2009) and MaddAddam (2013), which would collectively come to be known as
5168-461: Was created by the Lord Tweedsmuir , author of The Thirty-Nine Steps . Initially there were only two awards, for fiction and non-fiction books, and the program honoured only English-language works before 1959 (although the awards were occasionally won by English translations of works originally published in French). The Stephen Leacock Award for humour literature, while administered separately from
5244-479: Was doing. He said to our daughter towards the end of his life, 'Your mum would still have been a writer if she hadn't met me, but she wouldn't have had as much fun'". Although she is an accomplished writer, Atwood says that she is "a terrible speller" who writes both on a computer and by hand. Atwood maintains a summer home on Pelee Island in Lake Erie . Atwood's first book of poetry, Double Persephone ,
5320-421: Was her ancestor, and on Wednesday she would say she wasn't ... So take your pick." Webster is the subject of Atwood's poem "Half-Hanged Mary", as well as the subject of Atwood's dedication in her novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985). At the beginning The Handmaid's Tale was named after its main character, "Offred". Atwood married Jim Polk, an American writer, in 1968, but they divorced in 1973. She formed
5396-486: Was producing a range of products, for a variety of remote writing applications, based on the LongPen technologies. In 2013, the company renamed itself to Syngrafii Inc. In 2021, it is cloud-based and offers electronic signature technology. As of May 2021, Atwood is still a director of Syngrafii Inc. and holder of various patents related to the LongPen and related technology. In November 2020 Atwood published Dearly,
5472-543: Was published as a pamphlet by Hawkshead Press in 1961, and won the E. J. Pratt Medal. While continuing to write, Atwood was a lecturer in English at the University of British Columbia , Vancouver, from 1964 to 1965, Instructor in English at the Sir George Williams University in Montreal from 1967 to 1968, and taught at the University of Alberta from 1969 to 1970. In 1966, The Circle Game
5548-459: Was published in 1969. As a social satire of North American consumerism, many critics have often cited the novel as an early example of the feminist concerns found in many of Atwood's works. Atwood taught at York University in Toronto from 1971 to 1972 and was a writer in residence at the University of Toronto during the 1972/1973 academic year. Atwood published six collections of poetry over
5624-490: Was published, winning the Governor General's Award . This collection was followed by three other small press collections of poetry: Kaleidoscopes Baroque: a poem , Cranbrook Academy of Art (1965); Talismans for Children , Cranbrook Academy of Art (1965); and Speeches for Doctor Frankenstein , Cranbrook Academy of Art (1966); as well as The Animals in That Country (1968). Atwood's first novel, The Edible Woman ,
5700-673: Was released in anticipation of the lectures, which were also recorded and broadcast on CBC Radio One 's Ideas . In March 2008, Atwood accepted a chamber opera commission. Commissioned by City Opera of Vancouver , Pauline is set in Vancouver in March 1913 during the final days of the life of Canadian writer and performer Pauline Johnson . Pauline , composed by Tobin Stokes with libretto by Atwood, premiered on May 23, 2014, at Vancouver's York Theatre. In 2016, Atwood began writing
5776-475: Was the winner of the St. Lawrence Award for Fiction and the award of The Periodical Distributors of Canada for Short Fiction. By 1976, there was such interest in Atwood, her works, and her life that Maclean's declared her to be "Canada's most gossiped-about writer." Atwood's literary reputation continued to rise in the 1980s with the publication of Bodily Harm (1981); The Handmaid's Tale (1985), winner of
#834165