Margaret Atwood: ‘Older women are only allowed to be two things: wise old women or wicked old witches’
In a lively conversation from Toronto, Margaret Atwood, the world-renowned Canadian author and now 85, reflects on her newly published memoirs, her thoughts on President Trump, the lasting influence of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and her own sense of mortality.
It’s rush hour in a bustling downtown café, yet few customers take notice of Atwood — small, dressed in dark tones, her white, curly hair hidden beneath a hat. On a bright autumn afternoon when the chill of winter quietly lingers, she settles on the terrace to speak softly and wittily about her long-awaited book.
“Who wants to read the story of someone sitting at a desk wrestling with a blank page?” she asks in the book. “It’s boring enough to die of boredom,” she concludes.
Despite her hesitation, Atwood chose to write the memoirs after all, turning an ordinary act of reflection into a meditation on creativity, memory, and the passing of time.
Author’s Summary
Margaret Atwood discusses her memoirs with characteristic irony, revealing how reflection, fame, and age intertwine in her ongoing exploration of life and art.