Born in 1939 in Ottawa, Canada, Margaret Atwood is a prolific poet, novelist and critic particularly interested in feminism. Her father worked as an entomologist and the family moved a lot, moving to the far North. She was educated at the University of Toronto and Radcliffe College and lectures in English literature at various Canadian universities. She developed a reputation as a feminist critic and one of Canada’s leading poets with the collections Double Persephone (1961), The Circle Game (1966) and The Animal in That Country (1968), which condemned materialism and rejoiced in nature.
Atwood’s novels established her as one of the greatest contemporary writers in English and include The Edible Woman (1969), a feminist satire about suppressed creativity, marital tedium and eating disorders, The Journals of Susanna Moody (1970) and Survival (1972), both work contemplating Canada’s history and landscape. Her acclaimed novel Surfacing (1972) is about a woman’s psychological and mystical inner journey in search for her father in remote Northern Quebec, the natural wilderness serving as metaphor for her mind. Lady Oracle (1976) is about how romantic writer re-write themselves. Life Before Man (1979) explores the manifestation of Third World reality upon content Western liberal consciousness. This theme is continued in Bodily Harm (1982) and that of refusing to be a victim. The Handmaid’s Tale (1986) is set in a Christian fundamentalist dystopia while Cat’s Eye (1989) looks at female relationships and art. The Robber Bridegroom (1993) deals with gender politics. Alias Grace (1996) is a historical novel based on the life of a famous Victorian murderess. The Blind Assassin (2000) is an intricate weaving of three plots by which to unravel a family mystery and a love affair, entwined with a metaphorical work of science fiction as to the nature of vision, of how people see what is before them and suffering. Other works include the short story collections Dancing Girls and Bluebeard’s Egg and of short poetic prose Murder in the Dark (1984) and Good Bones (1992).
Atwood is skilled at organising plot and structure in interesting ways, whilst adhering to literary conventions of domestic and social realism. She offers a feminist critique of culture - politics, art and philosophy are underlying currents in her work - whilst the story telling dominates and focuses on the psychological and social.