Margaret Atwood announces much-anticipated memoir

Culture
12 Feb 25

Margaret Atwood

It is the first memoir in the 85-year-old writer's career.

Margaret Atwood has announced her first-ever memoir, Book of Lives, to be published in November.

Book of Lives blends Atwood's acclaimed literary career with her own personal life, with themes including her nomadic childhood spent through Canada's wild forests, and the period she spent in East Berlin, from which The Handmaid's Tale was born.

"A memoir is what you can remember, and you remember mostly stupid things, catastrophes, revenges, and times of political horror, so I put those in – but I also added moments of joy, and surprising events and, of course, the books," Atwood told British Vogue.

"My publishers made me do it," the author said after being asked "why now." "When they first proposed it, I said, 'Oh, that would be so boring.' I mean, I wrote a book, I wrote another book, I wrote another book... Who’s going to read that?”

She adds she became more attracted to the idea of a memoir when her publishers told her they wanted a "memoir in literary style."

The two-time Booker Prize winner pointed to the late Irish writer Edna O'Brien's James Joyce biography in her interview: "It’s short, succinct, funny, interesting. High points, low points," she said.

Regarding current affairs, Atwood addressed Donald Trump's comments about making Canada the 51st US state: "I think it’s lovely that the United States has recognised its mistake and wishes to join Canada so they can have a king."

“But it wouldn’t be the 51st state," she added. "It would be 10 new states and two territories, which would mean that the Republicans would never get elected again. So he’s welcome to try."

The author also spoke on the timeliness of The Handmaid's Tale blockbuster series, whose sixth instalment will be released in April of this year: "It all feels particularly pertinent right now, I guess. But then it was also unfortunately pertinent when we were first shooting The Handmaid’s Tale in the summer of 2016."

"We have this same sad framework again: instead of fantasy, it’s reality. I don’t think there will be outfits, but the rest of it... It’s too creepy," she added.

Filming for The Testaments (the spin-off based on Atwood's eponym 2019 novel) is set to start soon.

Since the beginning of her career in 1961, Atwood has received numerous accolades, such as a Governor General's Award, or a Princess of Asturias Award. She has also received several national orders, like the Order of Canada, and she is currently a Fellow at the Royal Society of Literature (RSL).