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97-475: Indigenous peoples of Canada are culturally diverse. Each group has its own literature, language and culture. The term "Indigenous literature" therefore can be misleading, as writer Jeannette Armstrong states in one interview, "I would stay away from the idea of "Native" literature, there is no such thing. There is Mohawk literature, there is Okanagan literature, but there is no generic Native in Canada". In 1802,

194-841: A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Victoria where she studied Creative Writing. In 2009, she obtained a Ph.D. in Indigenous Environmental Ethics from the University of Greifswald in Germany. In 1978, Armstrong began employment with the Penticton Band in a number of cultural and political roles. She also worked as a researcher, consultant, and writer at the En'owkin Centre (Lutz 13 and Petrone 140). The En'owkin Centre, located on

291-434: 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

388-402: A 'new wave' of Canadian writers, some starting their careers in the 1950s. The first to elevate Canadian Literature to the world stage were Lucy Maud Montgomery, Stephen Leacock, Mazo de la Roche, and Morley Callaghan. During the post-war decades Canadian literature, as were Australian and New Zealand literature, viewed as an appendage to British Literature. When academic Clara Thomas decided in

485-500: A 1989 interview with Hartmut Lutz , Armstrong relates that some feminist scholars questioned her decision to create a male protagonist for her novel Slash. She defends her choice, believing she portrayed both female strength and male development in the book. (Lutz 18). In the same interview, Armstrong notes, "I've been criticized by non-Native critics in terms of character development" (qtd in Lutz 15–16). She explains that she could not isolate

582-408: 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

679-416: 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

776-457: 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

873-487: 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

970-476: 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

1067-425: A formalist style. In 1979, Roch Carrier wrote the story The Hockey Sweater , which highlighted the cultural and social tensions between English and French speaking Canada. Because Canada only officially became a country following the unification, or 'confederation' of several colonies, including Upper and Lower Canada, into one nation on July 1, 1867, it has been argued that literature written before this time

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1164-658: 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

1261-538: 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

1358-488: 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

1455-482: 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

1552-475: 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

1649-543: 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

1746-405: A poem she wrote about John F. Kennedy was published in a local newspaper ( Voices ). As a teenager, Armstrong continued to publish poetry and develop her literary voice by reading and listening to works by Aboriginal authors such as Pauline Johnson and Chief Dan George , who she identifies as her early influences. In 1978, Armstrong received a diploma of Fine Arts from Okanagan College and

1843-510: 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

1940-552: 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

2037-667: 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

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2134-638: A stark contrast between Canadian and English literatures. However, one of the earliest Canadian writers virtually always included in Canadian literary anthologies is Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796–1865), born and raised in Nova Scotia, who died just two years before Canada's official birth. He is remembered for his comic character, Sam Slick, who appeared in The Clockmaker and other humorous works throughout Haliburton's life. A group of poets now known as

2231-446: A travelogue that presented a sour interpretation of the country in 1958, for example, was widely rejected. After 1967, the country's centennial year, the national government increased funding to publishers and numerous small presses began operating throughout the country. The best-known Canadian children's writers include L. M. Montgomery and Monica Hughes. Arguably, the best-known living Canadian writer internationally (especially since

2328-679: 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),

2425-493: 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,

2522-683: 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

2619-450: 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 ,

2716-416: 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

2813-726: Is essential to appreciate Armstrong's work and satisfy the goals of the Okanagan Indian Curriculum Project. Armstrong is dedicated to the advancement of literature and the arts among First Nations people and the realization and promotion of the distinct artistic forms of Aboriginal people in the international arts and literary community ( Creative 126). Armstrong's insights as an educator, creative force, and activist are respected by First Nations individuals and international audiences alike. Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood CC OOnt CH FRSC FRSL (born on November 18, 1939)

2910-634: Is not a chronicle of AIM ( American Indian Movement ); rather, the text provides a personalized account of the origins and growth of Native activism since the 1960s (Lutz 22 and Jones 51). Since Slash was published, Armstrong has written in a variety of genres and is widely published. Her poetry is collected in anthologies and her collection Breath Tracks (1991). Her short stories are collected in works such as All My Relations: An Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Native Fiction, edited by Thomas King . Armstrong's second novel, Whispering in Shadows (2000) traces

3007-488: 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

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3104-692: 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

3201-658: The " Confederation Poets ", including Charles G. D. Roberts , Archibald Lampman , Bliss Carman , Duncan Campbell Scott , and William Wilfred Campbell , came to prominence in the 1880s and 1890s. Choosing the world of nature as their inspiration, their work was drawn from their own experiences and, at its best, written in their own tones. Isabella Valancy Crawford , Annie Campbell Huestis , Frederick George Scott , and Francis Sherman are also sometimes associated with this group. During this period, E. Pauline Johnson and William Henry Drummond were writing popular poetry – Johnson's based on her part- Mohawk heritage, and Drummond,

3298-904: 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

3395-406: The 1820s, Quebec had virtually no literature. It was the rise of Quebec patriotism and the 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion , in addition to a modern system of primary school education, which led to the rise of French-Canadian fiction. L'influence d'un livre by Philippe-Ignace-Francois Aubert de Gaspé is widely regarded as the first French-Canadian novel. The genres which first became popular were

3492-595: The 1930s with a new group of authors educated at the Université Laval and the Université de Montréal . Novels with psychological and sociological foundations became the norm. Gabrielle Roy and Anne Hébert even began to earn international acclaim, which had not happened to French-Canadian literature before. During this period, Quebec theatre, which had previously been melodramas and comedies, became far more involved. French-Canadian literature began to greatly expand with

3589-454: The 1940s to concentrate on Canadian literature for her master's thesis, the idea was so novel and so radical that word of her decision reached The Globe and Mail books editor William Arthur Deacon , who then personally reached out to Thomas to pledge his and the newspaper's resources in support of her work. Other major Canadian novelists include Carol Shields , Lawrence Hill , and Alice Munro . Carol Shields novel The Stone Diaries won

3686-1213: The 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction , and another novel, Larry's Party , won the Orange Prize in 1998. Lawrence Hill 's Book of Negroes won the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Overall Best Book Award, while Alice Munro became the first Canadian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Munro also received the Man Booker International Prize in 2009. In the 1960s, a renewed sense of nation helped foster new voices in Canadian poetry, including: Margaret Atwood , Michael Ondaatje , Leonard Cohen , Eli Mandel and Margaret Avison . Others such as Al Purdy , Milton Acorn , and Earle Birney , already published, produced some of their best work during this period. The TISH Poetry movement in Vancouver brought about poetic innovation from Jamie Reid , George Bowering , Fred Wah , Frank Davey , Daphne Marlatt , David Cull, and Lionel Kearns . Canadian poets have been expanding

3783-596: The Barrens (1956). Following World War II, writers such as Mavis Gallant, Mordecai Richler, Norman Levine, Sheila Watson, Margaret Laurence and Irving Layton added to the Modernist influence in Canadian literature previously introduced by F. R. Scott , A. J. M. Smith and others associated with the McGill Fortnightly . This influence, at first, was not broadly appreciated. Norman Levine 's Canada Made Me ,

3880-630: The Bush (1852) and Life in the Clearings (1853). However, both women wrote until their deaths, placing them in the country for more than 50 years and certainly well past Confederation. Moreover, their books often dealt with survival and the rugged Canadian environment; these themes re-appear in other Canadian works, including Margaret Atwood 's Survival . Moodie and Parr Trail's sister, Agnes Strickland , remained in England and wrote elegant royal biographies, creating

3977-598: The Centre for Creative Change, Esalen Institute , Omega Institute , and the World Institute for Humanities at Salado ("Awardee"). As a campaigner for Aboriginal rights, Armstrong serves as an international observer to the Continental Coordinating Commission of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations. She was named as one of seven Indigenous Judges to the First Nations Court of Justice called by

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4074-832: The Chiefs of Ontario and to the Council of Listeners in the International Testimonials on Violations of Indigenous Sovereignty for the United Nations ("Awardee"). In her study of Native literature, Penny Petrone includes Armstrong amongst a young generation of university-trained Aboriginal authors who contributed to original creative works to Canadian literature during the 1980s (138). Critical analysis of Armstrong has generally studied her poetry and, more extensively, her first novel. Petrone describes Armstrong's poetry as "direct, unequivocal, and assertive, even aggressive" (163). In

4171-612: The German Book Trade There are a number of notable Canadian awards for literature: Awards For Children's and Young Adult Literature: Jeannette Armstrong Jeannette Christine Armstrong OC ( Okanagan : lax̌lax̌tkʷ; born 1948) is a Canadian author, educator, artist, and activist. She was born and grew up on the Penticton Indian reserve in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley , and fluently speaks both

4268-583: The Half-Blood," written by Mourning Dove , one of the earliest Native American women novelists in the United States. Controversy has arisen as a result of misunderstandings about her claim of this Okanagan recognized relationship to Christine Quintasket aka Mourning Dove. Armstrong is best known for her involvement with the En'owkin Centre and writing. She has written about topics such as creativity, education, ecology, and Indigenous rights . While growing up on

4365-774: The Learning Institute, which provides adult Native people with skills in research and writing so that First Nations individuals can develop quality, correct, and appropriate information for the project (Lutz 28). In 1980, the curriculum project founded Theytus Books Ltd., the first publishing house in Canada owned and operated by First Nations people. It is run as a division of the En'owkin Centre (Lutz 28 and Theytus ). The En'owkin Centre's programs help to provide Theytus with proficient employees who work collectively in efforts to produce and promote appropriate reading material and information created by Native authors, illustrators, and artists (Lutz 28 and Theytus ). Appointed in 1986 as

4462-519: The Lower Canada legislative library was founded. All books it contained were subsequently moved to the Canadian parliament in Montreal when the two Canadas, Lower and Upper, were united. On April 25, 1849 the Canadian parliament was burned along with thousands of French Canadian books and a few hundred English books. A consequence of this event was the mistaken impression that from the early settlements until

4559-565: 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,

4656-617: The Night (1957), and Two Solitudes (1945), while Callaghan is best known for Such Is My Beloved (1934), The Loved and the Lost (1951), and More Joy in Heaven (1937). Mitchell's most-loved novel is Who Has Seen the Wind . Perhaps reacting against a tradition that largely emphasized the wilderness and the small town and country experience, Leonard Cohen wrote the novel Beautiful Losers (1966). It

4753-592: The Penticton Indian Reserve and operated exclusively by the six bands of the Okanagan Nation, is managed in conjunction with Okanagan College and the University of Victoria. It has the goal of providing students with a strong cultural and academic foundation for success in further post-secondary studies ( En'owki n and Petrone 140). The objectives of the society which governs En'owkin, as Armstrong describes, are "to record and perpetuate and promote 'Native' in

4850-603: The Penticton Indian Reserve in British Columbia , Armstrong received a formal education at a one-room school there, as well as a traditional Okanagan education from her family and tribal elders. She learned to speak the Okanagan and English languages fluently. For many years since her childhood, Armstrong has studied traditional Okanagan teachings and practiced traditional ways under the direction of Elders. Armstrong discovered her interest and talent for writing at age fifteen when

4947-765: The Poet of the Habitant, writing dialect verse. L. M. Montgomery 's novel Anne of Green Gables was first published in 1908. It has sold an estimated 50 million copies and is one of the best selling books worldwide. Between 1915 and 1925, Stephen Leacock (1869–1944) was the best selling humour writer in the world. His best known book of fiction, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town was published in 1912. Three of Canada's most important post-World War I novelists were Hugh MacLennan (1907–1990), W.O. Mitchell (1914–1998), and Morley Callaghan (1903–1990). MacLennan's best-known works are Barometer Rising (1941), The Watch That Ends

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5044-629: The Syilx and English languages. Armstrong has lived on the Penticton Native Reserve for most of her life and has raised her two children there. In 2013, she was appointed Canada Research Chair in Okanagan Indigenous Knowledge and Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. Armstrong's 1985 work Slash is considered the first novel by a First Nations woman in Canada. Armstrong is Syilx Okanagan. Her mother, Lilly Louie,

5141-564: 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 ,

5238-730: The best known Canadian poet living today. Carson in 1996 won the Lannan Literary Award for poetry. The foundation's awards in 2006 for poetry, fiction and nonfiction each came with $ US 150,000. Nobel Prize in Literature International Booker Prize Booker Prize Pulitzer Prize for Fiction National Book Critics Circle Award International Dublin Literary Award Orange Prize Commonwealth Writers' Prize Peace Prize of

5335-409: The boundaries of originality: Christian Bök , Ken Babstock , Karen Solie , Lynn Crosbie , Patrick Lane , George Elliott Clarke and Barry Dempster have all imprinted their unique consciousnesses onto the map of Canadian imagery. A notable anthology of Canadian poetry is The New Oxford book of Canadian Verse , edited by Margaret Atwood ( ISBN   0-19-540450-5 ). Anne Carson is probably

5432-402: The character of Slash from his community in order depict his individual nature and still compose the story for her people (Lutz 16). Armstrong argues that Slash's personal growth can be perceived through his relationships with his family and community (Lutz 16). In her study of Slash , Manina Jones catalogues a number of critical responses to the work; she says that many academic articles relate

5529-469: 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

5626-515: 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

5723-911: 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

5820-619: The cultural sense, in education, and in our lives and our communities" (qtd in Lutz 27). To support these objectives, the En'owkin Centre created the Okanagan Curriculum Project (Lutz 27). This project develops school curriculum that presents Okanagan history in an accurate and dignified way (Lutz 27). Armstrong and her fellow members on the Okanagan Tribal Education Committee believe that Okanagan people must tell their own stories. The curriculum project founded

5917-452: The deaths of Robertson Davies and Mordecai Richler ) is Margaret Atwood , a prolific novelist, poet, and literary critic. Other great 20th-century Canadian authors include Margaret Laurence , Mavis Gallant , Michael Ondaatje , Carol Shields , Alistair MacLeod , Mazo de la Roche , and Gabrielle Roy . This group, along with Nobel Laureate Alice Munro , who has been called the best living writer of short stories in English, were part of

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6014-497: The difficulties of readers in understanding Armstrong's novel. Jones describes Slash as a work that refuses priority to speech or writing, insisting on a hybrid status (55). Jones includes the views of other critics with her own in showing that Slash is unique in its aesthetic practice and didactic purpose. She says that Armstrong compels readers through this novel to consider her text in ways that may be unfamiliar to them. Jones suggests that an innovative critical reading approach

6111-464: 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

6208-516: The early 1980s, Enwhisteetkwa (or Walk in Water ) in 1982 and Neekna and Chemai the following year. She did research for two years in preparation for writing Slash (1985), her first and most famous novel (Petrone 179 and Lutz 22). Armstrong's novel was commissioned by the curriculum project, for use as part of a grade eleven study in contemporary history. Armstrong wanted Slash to connect with and relate to contemporary students (Jones 60). She took on

6305-479: The executive director of the En'owkin Centre, Armstrong continues to serve in that position. In 1989 she helped to establish the En'owkin School of International Writing and became its director, as well as an instructor (Petrone 140). It is the first creative writing school in Canada to award credit that is operated entirely by and for Aboriginal people (Petrone 140 and Voices ). Armstrong published two children's books in

6402-455: 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

6499-795: 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

6596-761: 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

6693-535: 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

6790-427: The life experiences of a young Okanagan activist woman. In addition, Armstrong has published critical works, such as The Native Creative Process. This is a collaborative discourse between Armstrong and Douglas Cardinal on Aboriginal artistry. In Land Speaking, she addresses how land and the Okanagan language influence her writing. Armstrong is an advocate for Indigenous people's rights and focuses her research on

6887-564: 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

6984-480: 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 ,

7081-704: The project to forestall the work of more famous non-Aboriginal authors, who were "dripping at the mouth" to document Native history (Williamson qtd in Jones 60). Slash explores the history of the North American Indian protest movement through the critical perspective of central character Tommy Kelasket, who is eventually renamed Slash. Tommy has encountered intolerance in an assimilationist school system and racist North American society, but his family encourages him to be proud of his Okanagan heritage. He becomes an activist for Aboriginal rights. Armstrong has said that Slash

7178-696: 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,

7275-548: The revitalization of Indigenous communities and culture. She has served as a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Indigenous Philosophy and is involved in a number of committees that reflect her beliefs in educating future Indigenous generations on traditional Indigenous knowledge. Armstrong is part of the Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Okanagan Indigenous Knowledge and Philosophy, and her aim is to bring awareness to

7372-453: The rural novel and the historical novel. French authors were influential, especially authors like Balzac . In 1866, Father Henri-Raymond Casgrain became one of Quebec's first literary theorists. He argued that literature's goal should be to project an image of proper Catholic morality. However, a few authors like Louis-Honoré Fréchette and Arthur Buies broke the conventions to write more interesting works. This pattern continued until

7469-592: The stories of the Syilx Okanagan first nations communities, which pertains to a large amount of indigenous knowledge that is overlooked and majorly inaccessible. She has contribute articles and is a consultant to the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California . This foundation encourages education that develops sustainable patterns of living. She has acted as a consultant to social and environmental organizations such as

7566-530: 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

7663-428: 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

7760-476: 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

7857-496: 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

7954-595: The turmoil of the Second World War , the beginnings of industrialization in the 1950s, and most especially the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. French-Canadian literature also began to attract a great deal of attention globally, with Acadian novelist Antonine Maillet winning the Prix Goncourt in 1979. An experimental branch of Québécois literature also developed; for instance the poet Nicole Brossard wrote in

8051-461: 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

8148-429: 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

8245-454: Was Theresa Quintasket, paternal aunt of Mourning Dove (Christine Quintasket). In the Okanagan kinship system Quintasket was a cousin-aunt to Armstrong's mother Lilly Louie (Quintasket was first cousin to Armstrong's maternal grandfather). In the Okanagan kinship system she would be recognized as Armstrong's grand-aunt (the same word in Okanagan). Armstrong identified strongly with the book "Cogewea,

8342-566: 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

8439-684: Was colonial. The book often considered to be the first work of Canadian literature is The History of Emily Montague by Frances Brooke , published in 1769. Brooke wrote the novel in Sillery, Quebec following the Conquest of New France . Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill , English sisters who adopted the country as their own, moved to Upper Canada in 1832. They recorded their experiences as pioneers in Parr Traill's The Backwoods of Canada (1836) and Canadian Crusoes (1852), and Moodie's Roughing It in

8536-474: 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 ,

8633-618: Was from Kettle Falls and belonged to the Kettle River people, and Armstrong's father belonged to the mountain people who lived in the Okanagan Valley. As an Okanagan person, the land is intrinsically part of her identity, and she is deeply connected to the land she and her relatives were raised on. Her paternal grandfather, Thomas James Armstrong was the Irish husband of her paternal grandmother Christine Joseph. Armstrong's maternal great-grandmother

8730-421: 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

8827-450: Was labelled by one reviewer "the most revolting book ever written in Canada". In time, however, this novel was considered a Canadian classic. Despite beginning his career as a poet of major importance, Cohen is perhaps best known as a folk singer and songwriter, with an international following. Canadian author Farley Mowat is best known for his work Never Cry Wolf (1963) and his Governor General's Award-winning children's book, Lost in

8924-481: 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,

9021-526: 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

9118-454: 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

9215-484: 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 ,

9312-660: 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

9409-472: 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

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