Happy MARM to everyone who’s reading this post!

From Friday, November 1st to Saturday, November 30th it’s Margaret Atwood Reading Month, and you’re invited! (And, don’t forget, the 18th is Margaret Atwood’s 84th birthday. Cake, anyone? I mean, EVERYone?)

Read or watch one thing, read or watch everyday, or somewhere in-between: you choose.

Has it really been weeks since the first chat of MARM2024? Can this really be the seventh MARM?

We have created a cosy little corner here, with MARM, all of us, and I’m so pleased that others feel comfortable hanging out every November reading and rereading, curling and stretching, musing and exploring.

It’s a busy reading month, partly because it’s the month before December and partly because there are so many other friendly groups gathering to celebrate other literary bits and bobs and other themes.

(Please feel free to link below, if you are also hosting other challenges, readalongs, or events this November!)

MARM 2024 PLANS

Launch (November 1)
Dancing Girls, “Training” (November 5)
Old Babes in the Wood, “My Evil Mother” (November 7)
Week Two: Update and Check-In (November 10)
Dancing Girls, “Lives of the Poets” (November 12)
Old Babes in the Wood, “The Dead Interview” (November 14)
Week Three: Update and Check-In (November 18)
Margaret Atwood’s 84th Birthday (November 18)
Dancing Girls, “Dancing Girls” (November 19)
Old Babes in the Wood, “Impatient Griselda” (November 21)
Week Four: Update and Check-In (November 24)
Dancing Girls, “Giving Birth” (November 26)
Old Babes in the Wood, “Bad Teeth” (November 28)
Wrap-Up (November 30)

Some have used this annual event as an incentive to pull longtime-shelf-sitters off their bookcases, gradually adding to a sense of familiarity with Atwood’s work, and some have used it as a way to stay current with Margaret Atwood’s newer publications.

For me, it’s a bit of both those things, but also an annual reminder that we can each create little comfy corners, where we gather and, no matter how different we are in other ways, we join together in choosing to share this.

This year I’ve treated myself to a copy of Margaret Atwood’ Paper Boat, a collection of poems. And, in the process of randomly selecting from that hefty volume, I’m curious to see how many of the boxes in this new Bingo card can be filled; I just picked some common Atwood themes, so it’s quite possible that the only box checked at the end of November will be the centre! (Anyone who’s feeling the Bingo-mood can feel free to join or to use the older card.)

This schedule is also visible in an image alongside, but this list allows anyone to copy-and-paste, if so desired.

MARM 2024 Schedule:

Launch (November 1)
Dancing Girls, “Training” (November 5)
Old Babes in the Wood, “My Evil Mother” (November 7)
Week Two: Update and Check-In (November 10)
Dancing Girls, “Lives of the Poets” (November 12)
Old Babes in the Wood, “The Dead Interview” (November 14)
Week Three: Update and Check-In (November 18)
Margaret Atwood’s 85th Birthday (November 18)
Dancing Girls, “Dancing Girls” (November 19)
Old Babes in the Wood, “Impatient Griselda” (November 21)
Week Four: Update and Check-In (November 24)
Dancing Girls, “Giving Birth” (November 26)
Old Babes in the Wood, “Bad Teeth” (November 28)
Wrap-Up (November 30)

Next up: I’m looking forward to reading “Training” from Dancing Girls and “My Evil Mother” in Old Babes in the Wood, and I’m enjoying how they might intersect, with evil-mothers-in-training.

Past that, I’ve got some thoughts on a couple of newer Atwoods, and a novel by an author she’s recommended, along with some links I’ve saved.

How about you? What do you have in mind? What does MARM look like for you, from where you’re sitting?

MARM Quote-of-the-Week

Margaret Atwood

“Beginnings are sudden, but also insidious. They creep up on you sideways, they keep to the shadows, they lurk unrecognized. Then, later, they spring.”
The Blind Assassin