Honored feminist novelist visits Oberlin

Margaret Atwood, one of North America's most accomplished and versatile writers, will bring her biting social commentary to Oberlin on Saturday, Feb. 8. The author of over 25 books in several genres, including novels, short stories, essays, children's books and poetry, Atwood is one of the few contemporary writers who has achieved mass popularity along with critical acclaim, honorary degrees and numerous awards.

Atwood will read from her new book, Alias Grace, at 4p.m. at First Church. Following a dinner with Friends of the Library, Atwood will present a lecture in Carnegie Root Room entitled, "In Search of Alias Grace." Her first historical novel, Alias Grace is based on a famous Torontonian maidservant, Grace Marks, who in 1843 was accused of murdering her employer and his housekeeper.

Alias Grace (Doubleday, 1996), currently on The New York Times best seller list, joins the collection of Atwood books that explore the complex issues of what it means to live as a woman. Works such as Surfacing (Simon and Schuster, 1973), Lady Oracle (Simon and Schuster, 1976), The Handmaid's Tale (Houghton Mifflin, 1985), and The Robber Bride (Doubleday, 1993), have followed feminism's struggle, each addressing a different aspect of the problems facing women since the seventies. Her novels portray female characters who are complex, resourceful, defiant and clever. Their strength lies in giving women a hand to grasp onto and say, "Someone else understands what I'm going through. I'm not alone."

In a January interview with Salon Magazine, Atwood said she had written about Grace Marks previously, in a television scenario for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, based on questionably one-sided writings of Marks' contemporaries. Atwood said, "I was young and I thought non-fiction meant true." She decided to write Alias Grace because of the "discrepancies among the different accounts." In her novel, she gives the reader "the benefit of both versions."

In addition to novel writing, Atwood is a highly regarded poet and writer of short fiction. Her poetry has appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, The Canadian Forum, OC Press's FIELD and The Atlantic Monthly and has been anthologized in both Canada and the United States. Her most recent book of poetry, Morning in the Burned House, was published in 1995 by Houghton Mifflin. Her short stories have appeared in many American and Canadian journals, including The Tamarack Review, Harper's, and Ms. She edited The Best American Short Stories 1989 (Houghton Mifflin, 1989) with Shannon Ravenel.

Among Atwood's numerous awards are a Guggenheim Fellowship; Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year, 1986; the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction, 1987; Humanist of the Year Award, 1987; and honorary degrees from Smith College, Mount Holyoke and McMaster University.

The reigning story queen: Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaids Tale, reads at First Church on Sat. at 4:00 p.m. She will deliver a lecture, entitled The Search for Alias Grace, at 8:00 the same evening in Carnegie Root Room. (photo courtesy Friends of the Library)