Margaret Atwood is a Canadian writer, feminist, literary critic, and political activist. She has won numerous awards for her novels, poetry collections, and essays. Atwood’s upbringing was non-traditional due to her father’s career as a zoologist. She began writing at the age of sixteen and studied English, philosophy, and French in college. Atwood has been married twice and has one daughter.
Margaret Atwood, born November 18, 1939, is a famous Canadian writer, author of numerous poems, short stories and novels. Atwood is also a feminist, literary critic and political activist. In addition to receiving national and international awards for her writings, Margaret Atwood is a member of the Order of Canada. This membership is the highest honor awarded to Canadian civilians.
Atwood was born in Ottawa, Ontario to zoologist Carl Edmund Atwood and Margaret Dorothy Killiam, who worked as a dietician and nutritionist. She was one of three children. Due to his father’s career, Atwood spent much of his youth in the forests of northern Quebec. There, Carl Atwood conducted his research on the etymology of the forest. His work also took him on regular trips to major Canadian cities. His regular travels between urban and desolate areas resulted in a non-traditional upbringing for his children. In fact, Margaret didn’t complete a full year of school until she was in the eighth grade.
Much of Atwood’s education was provided by her parents and fueled by her own curiosity. She became a voracious reader early in her life and covered many classic texts at a young age. She began writing at the age of sixteen while attending Leaside High School in Toronto. After high school, Atwood studied English, philosophy and French. Her undergraduate degree was followed by a master’s degree from Radcliffe College at Harvard. Though Atwood spent another four years pursuing a PhD at Harvard, she never completed her final degree.
Margaret Atwood’s novels include The Edible Woman (1961), Surfacing (1972), Lady Oracle (1976) and Bodily Harm (1981). Life Before Man (1979), Cat’s Eye (1988), The Robber Bride (1996), The Blind Assassin (2000), and Oryx and Crake (2003) were all finalists for the Governor General’s Award. The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) won the 1987 Arthur C Clarke Award and the 1985 Governor General’s Award. The Blind Murderer won the prestigious Booker Prize. In addition to publishing novels, Margaret Atwood has published over a dozen poetry collections and numerous short story collections. She has also published numerous essays and has been interviewed by various literary magazines, newspapers and other publications.
Atwood has been married twice. In 1973, she divorced her husband of five years Jim Polk. Not long after that, she got married again. She and her second husband, Graeme Gibson, had one daughter, Eleanor Jess Atwood Gibson, born in 1976. Atwood lives in both Toronto and Pelee Island, Ontario.
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