Early in November, I attended the premiere of A Word after a Word after a Word is Power, the documentary by Nancy Lang and Peter Raymont, filmed during the final year in which Margaret Atwood was writing The Testaments. It would also turn out to be the last year
When the Commander and Offred are playing Scrabble in episode three, all the tiles are turned face-down except for two: ‘M’ and ‘A’. When you’re in the middle of Margaret Atwood Reading Month, an ‘M’ and an ‘A’ are immediately recognizable as relevant. And it’s details like this which
There are three things that I noticed in this rereading of The Handmaid’s Tale. The use of time in the narrative. The importance of what is not said. The matter of world-building and perspective. In all three, readers are wholly engaged. Engaged in the use of time, in the
Yesterday, I chatted about one of my favourites from this year’s Giller Prize longlist. Tomorrow, I’ll be chatting about the most talked-about from this year’s longlist, Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, as part of #MARM Margaret Atwood Reading Month. So, today, the other books on the longlist, the ones I
On Monday night, the winner of the Giller Prize was announced. When I was a younger reader, I believed there was a perfect alchemical wonder which was suitably rewarded as a winner from a shortlist of contenders for a literary prize; when I grew up, I realized that there
