Margaret Atwood: Conversations

by Margaret Atwood, Earl G. Ingersoll (Editor)

This gathering of 21 interviews with Margaret Atwood covers a broad
spectrum of topics. Beginning with Graeme Gibson's "Dissecting the Way a
Writer Works" (1972), the conversations provide a forum for Atwood to
talk about her own work, her career as a writer, feminism, and Canadian
cultural nationalism, and to refute the autobiographical fallacy. These
conversations offer what Earl Ingersoll calls "a kind of 'biography' of
Margaret Atwood—the only kind of biography she is likely to sanction."
Enlivened by Atwood's unfailing sense of humor, the interviews present
an invaluable view of a distinguished contemporary writer at work.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing

272 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1990

About the author

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.

Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth ­ in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.

Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.

Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.

Reviews

[gorecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the questions in these interviews were repeated a bit to often and were sometimes a bit boring, but then reading Atwood's answers, being in her company, is priceless and well worth bearing the repetitions.

[Anne Earney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last of the books I started in 2017, finished! This had been on my shelves for years and I finally picked it up shortly before seeing Margaret Atwood speak at SLU. Before seeing her, the interviews were mildly interesting, and brought back faint memories of her early novels, which I'd read during my college years. After seeing her interviewed live, on stage, and coming back to these interviews with a sense of her voice, personality, and amazing sense of humor, I derived much more enjoyment from my reading. I love Atwood's opinions on writing, feminism and literature. That being said, it is a book of interviews with one person, and though they cover a couple of decades, Atwood doesn't seem to have changed much and the interviews cover such similar territory, this book would only appeal to someone who loves her books or is studying Canadian literature. So very good for what it is, but still just a book of interviews. If you can find a video of an interview with Margaret Atwood, watch that instead.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could listen to this woman talk about literally anything.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite authors, so I was able to slog through this rather monotonous collection of interviews. Unfortunately, the interviews all center around the same themes - the dearth of a Canadian literary culture (when Atwood begins writing), whether or not Atwood considers herself a feminist, the difference between writing prose and poetry, etc. There are all interesting topics, but I felt that almost every interview touched upon them.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! I loved having some additional insights into Atwood’s mind!

[Ella Hachee]

I’m sure everyone asking her the same three questions irritated Atwood, but as someone looking for a good quote to put in my essay, I appreciated having many “sound bites” to choose from.

[Carolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is SO MANY THINGS.