Canadian poet and novelist Margaret Atwood is heading her way to Australia in February 2020 in celebration of the global publication of her novel 'The Testaments'. In collaboration with Andrew Kay, Phil Bathols and BBC Studios Australia, she will share stories about the book at Sydney's International Convention Centre, Canberra Theatre Centre and Queensland Performing Arts Centre. She will also stop by The Arts Centre Melbourne and Wrest Point Entertainment Centre in Hobart before wrapping up at Perth's Riverside Theatre.
The shows will also feature Atwood's remarkable career, her diverse range of works and why she has returned to the fictional world of 'Gilead' 34 years later. Before the Australian dates though, the renowned author will first be in New Zealand for speaking engagements at Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre, Auckland's The Civic and Christchurch Town Hall.
Margaret Atwood said: "I am so happy to be returning to Australia, where I have spent much time in the past, and where readers have always been so warm and welcoming."
'The Testaments' is Atwood's highly anticipated sequel to her seminal work, 'The Handmaid's Tale'. The publication of 'The Handmaid's Tale' in 1985 and the current, Emmy Award-winning television series have created a cultural phenomenon, becoming a symbol of women's rights and a protest against misogyny and oppression. In the brilliant sequel, Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades. When the van door slammed on Offred's future at the end of 'The Handmaid's Tale', readers had no way of telling what lay ahead. 'The Testaments' picks up the story 15 years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead. 'The Testaments' was published earlier this year as one of the biggest book launches of this century, topping the charts in all English-language territories, and won this year's the Booker Prize for Fiction.
Margaret Atwood is the author of more than 50 books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. Her novels include 'Cat's Eye', 'The Robber Bride', 'Alias Grace', 'The Blind Assassin' and the 'MaddAddam Trilogy'. Her 1985 classic 'The Handmaid's Tale' went back into the bestseller charts with the election of Donald Trump, when the 'Handmaids' became a symbol of resistance against him, and with the 2017 release of the eponymous award-winning TV series. Sales of the English language edition have now topped 8 million copies worldwide.
She has won numerous awards including the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award. She has also worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, librettist, playwright and puppeteer.
Don't miss your chance to witness one of Canada's most celebrated authors, Margaret Atwood, live on stage next year!
Post a comment