Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood is one of the most famous English-language writers in the world: a novelist, poet, literary critic, conservation activist, and feminist. She is the winner of the 1987 Arthur C. Clarke Award for The Handmaid’s Tale, the Princess of Asturias Award, the Governor General’s Award of Canada (twice), the 2000 and 2019 Booker Prizes (for The Blind Assassin and The Testaments), the Franz Kafka Prize, and is a Companion of the Order of Canada.

She was born in Ottawa on November 18, 1939, into the family of entomologist Carl Edmund Atwood and Margaret Dorothy Killiam, a nutrition specialist. Margaret Atwood began her literary career at the age of 16. In 1957, she entered Victoria College at the University of Toronto. In 1961, she received a bachelor’s degree in English, and also completed additional courses in philosophy and French. In 1962, Margaret received a master’s degree at Radcliffe College of Harvard University in Massachusetts. She continued her studies for another two years, but did not complete her doctoral dissertation.

Margaret Atwood’s works have been translated into more than 20 languages. The writer addresses themes that are close to readers all over the world: the formation of character, misunderstandings between loved ones, missed opportunities, and unrealized dreams. In addition to fiction, Margaret Atwood is also the author of many scholarly works. These include literary criticism, studies, autobiographical essays, book reviews, political and environmental essays, and other journalism. Atwood is also the author of many children’s books.