Margaret Atwood Biography
Novelist, poet, short story writer, critic, teacher, and feminist Margaret
Eleanor Atwood was born on November 18, 1939. Born in Ottawa, Ontario,
Atwood was the second of three children to Carl Edmond and Margaret Dorothy
Killam Atwood. She went on to marry writer, Graeme Gibson, and give birth to a
daughter named Jess. Atwoods religion was that of Immanent Transcendentalist.
During her childhood, she spent her summers in Northern Quebec while her
father fulfilled aspirations of being a forest entomologist. Her time spent in
Northern Quebec during her youth, was a significant influence on the novel
Surfacing which was published in 1972.
Upon coming out of what Atwood often
refers to a her dark period, which took place from ages eight to sixteen, she
began writing. In high school, her writing began to flourish and she began
submitting her works to her high school newspaper. As she continued to
contribute poetry, short stories, and cartoons to her high schools paper, Canadian
literary critic and historian Northrop Frye (1912-1991) influenced her writing.
Frye also introduced her to the poetry of William Blake (1757-1827) which further
Atwood received her Bachelors degree from University of Toronto, her
Masters from Radcliff College of Harvard University, and went into graduate
study at Harvard University.
After completing various studies, Atwood went on to
spend a considerable amount of time teaching and lecturing. She taught English at
the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (1964-65), Victorian and
American Literature at Sir George Williams in Montreal (1967-68), Creative
Writing at the University of Alberta, English at New York University in New York
(1986). She worked as a writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto in
Toronto (1972-73), the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa (1985), and
Macquarie University in North Ryde, Australia (1987).
Atwood published her first volume of poetry, Double Persephone, in 1961.
Her second volume of poetry, The Circle Game, won the 1967 Governor Generals
Award, Canadas highest literary honor. Although Atwood was a feminist, in her
book The Animals In That Country there is nothing feminine about the poems.
(Duyn 19). The publishing of her book The Handmaids Tale (1986) also won her
the Governor Generals Award. The Handmaids Tale was filmed by Cinecom
Entertainment Group in 1990. Within six months of moving to Vancouver to
teach at the University of British Columbia, she completed her first novel The
Edible Woman in 1964, but was not published until 1969. According to critic
Millicent Bell, the book was a work of feminist black humor (Bell 19). Bell also
notes that Atwoods imagination is too wacky and sinister for situation comedy
(Bell 19) in her review of The Edible Woman. The publication of her poetry
collection Power Politics greatly increase her publicity.
Margaret Eleanor Atwood has become a prominent figure in the
contemporary literary realm. And as Linda Hutcheon has said The many reviews
and articles she has written… have contributed to making Atwood a significant
