Biography

Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master’s degree from Radcliffe College. Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than fifty volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction. Ms. Atwood’s work has been published in more than forty languages. She currently lives in Toronto.

Major works include:

The Edible Woman (1970)
Surfacing (1973)
Lady Oracle (1976)
Bodily Harm (1981)
The Handmaid’s Tale (1983)
Cat’s Eye (1989)
The Robber Bride (1994)
Alias Grace (1996)
The Blind Assassin (2000)
Oryx and Crake, (2003)
Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, part of the Massey Lecture series, appeared in 2008 Year of the Flood (2009)

Notable awards

1960-1969:

E.J. Pratt Medal, 1961
President’s Medal, University of Western Ontario, 1965
Governor General’s Award: Circle Game, 1966
Centennial Commission Poetry Competition, First, 1967
Union Poetry Prize, Poetry (Chicago), 1969

1970-1979:

Officer, Order of Canada, 1973
The Bess Hoskins Prize, Poetry (Chicago), 1974
The City of Toronto Book Award, 1977
The Canadian Bookseller’s Association Award, 1977
Periodical Distributors of Canada Short Fiction, 1977
St. Lawrence Award for Fiction, 1978

1980-1989:

Radcliffe Graduate medal, 1980
Molson Award, 1981
Guggenheim Fellowship, 1981
Companion of the Order of Canada, 1981
Welsh Arts Council International Writer’s Prize, 1982
Periodical Distributors of Canada and the Foundation for The Advancement of Canadian Letters Book of the Year Award, 1983
Ida Nudel Humanitarian Award, 1986
Toronto Arts Award, 1986
Governor General’s Award, The Handmaid’s Tale, 1986
Los Angeles Times Fiction Award, 1986
Ms. Magazine, Woman of the Year, 1986
Short-listed for the Booker Prize (England), 1987
Short-listed for the Ritz Hemingway Prize (Paris), 1987
Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction, 1987
Commonwealth Literary Prize, Regional winner, 1987
Council for Advancement and Support of Education, Silver Medal, Best Article of the Year, 1987
Humanist of the Year Award, 1987
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, 1987
YWCA Women of Distinction Award, 1988
National Magazine Award for Environmental Journalism, First Prize, 1988
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Foreign Honourary Member, Literature, 1988
Cat’s Eye, Torgi Talking Book (CNIB), 1989
Cat’s Eye, City of Toronto Book Award, 1989
Cat’s Eye, Coles Book of the Year, 1989
Canadian Booksellers Association Author of the Year, 1989
Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Letters / Periodical Marketers of Canada Book of the Year 1989
Cat’s Eye Short-listed for the Booker Prize (England), 1989

1990-1999:

Order of Ontario, 1990 Centennial Medal, Harvard University, 1990
Trillium Award for Excellence in Ontario writing for Wilderness Tips, 1992
John Hughes Prize, from the Welsh Development Board, 1992
Book of the Year Award from the Periodical Marketers of Canada for Wilderness Tips, 1992
Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation, 1992
Canadian Authors’ Association Novel of the Year for The Robber Bride, 1993
Trillium Award for Excellence in Ontario Writing for The Robber Bride, 1994
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Canadian and Caribbean Region for The Robber Bride, 1994
Government of France’s Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 1994
Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence for The Robber Bride, London U.K., 1994
Swedish Humour Association’s International Humourous Writer Award, 1995
Best Local Author, NOW Magazine Readers’ Poll, 1995
Trillium Award for Excellence in Ontario Writing for Morning in the Burned House, 1995
Norwegian Order of Literary Merit, 1996
Short-listed for the Booker Prize for Alias Grace, 1996
The Giller Prize for Alias Grace, 1996
Canadian Booksellers Association Author of the Year, 1996
National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature, U.S.A., 1997
Premio Mondello for Alias Grace, Italy, 1997
Best Local Author, NOW Magazine Readers’ Poll, 1997
Salon Magazine Best Fiction of the Year for Alias Grace, 1997
Best Local Author, NOW Magazine Readers’ Poll, 1998
London Literature Award, 1999
Best Local Author, NOW Magazine Readers’ Poll, 1999

2000-2009

Best Local Author, NOW Magazine Readers’ Poll, 2000.
Winner Booker Prize for The Blind Assassin, 2000
Nominated for the Orange Prize, 2001
International Crimewriters Association Dashiell Hammett Award, 2001
Canadian Booksellers Association People’s Choice Award, 2001
Short-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for The Blind Assassin, 2002
NOW Magazine Readers’ Poll, 2003
The Radcliffe Medal, 2003
Harold Washington Literary Award, 2003
Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize for Oryx and Crake, 2003
Short-listed for the Giller Prize for Oryx and Crake, 2003
Short-listed for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction for Oryx and Crake, 2003
Short-listed for the Orange Prize for Oryx and Crake, 2004
NOW Magazine Readers’ Poll, 2004
Short-listed for Booker International Prize, 2005
Banff Centre’s National Arts Award, 2005
Edinburgh’s International Book Festival Enlightenment Award, 2005
Chicago Tribune Literary Prize, 2005
Markets Initiative Order of the Forest, 2006
Short-listed for Booker International Prize, 2007
Winner Blue Metropolis Literary Grand Prix, Montreal, 2007
Finalist, Gov. General’s Literary Awards for The Door, 2007
Kenyon Review Literary Achievement Award, U.S.A., 2007
Honourary Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, 2007
Winner of the Prince of Asturias Award for Letters, Spain, 2008
Ontario College of Art and Design, 2009

2010+

Crystal Award, World Economic Forum, Davos-Klosters Switzerland, 2010
Nelly Sachs, Dortmund, Germany, 2010
Dan David Prize for Literature, 2011
Sun Life Financial Arts & Communications Award: 2011 Canada’s Most Powerful Women, Top 100
Governor General of Canada’s Golden Jubilee Medal, 2012
Canadian Booksellers’ Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012
Nashville Public Library Foundation Literary Award, 2012
Companion, Royal Society of Literature, 2012
L.A. Times Innovator’s Award, 2013
Heart and Vision Award, Toronto United Church Council, 2013
President’s Medal (with Graeme Gibson), BirdLife International , 2013
2014 Harvard Arts Medal
2014 Orion Book Award for MaddAddam (fiction)
Toronto Botanical Gardens Aster Award, 2014
Institute for Arts & Humanities Medal , Pennsylvania State University, 2014
New York City Library Lion, 2014
Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, 2015
Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story (Stone Mattress: Nine Tales), 2015
Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, 2015
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society Gold Medal Award for Outstanding Service to Literature and Geography, (with Graeme Gibson), 2015
Election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters as an Honorary Member, 2015
Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage, University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin, 2016
Kitschies Red Tentacle Award for The Heart Goes Last for most progressive, intelligent and entertaining novel of t he year, 2016
Golden Wreath Award, 2016
PEN Pinter Prize, 2016
Ivan Sandrof Award for Lifetime Achievement, 2017
St. Louis Literary Award 2017
Carl Sandburg Literary Award, 2017
Peace Prize. 2017
Franz Kafka International Literary Prize, 2017
PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, 2017
Aurora Award, Best Graphic Novel for Angel Catbird. Volume One, 2017
Daughters for Life Foundation Luminary Award, 2017
Raymond Chandler Award, 2017
Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute, 2018
UCD Ulysses Medal, 2018
Adrienne Clarkson Prize for Global Citizenship, 2018
Order of t he Companions of Honour, 2018
LARB/UCR Lifetime Achievement Award, 2019
VH1 Trailblazer Honoree, 2019
The Booker Prize for The Testaments, 2019
Burke Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Discourse through the Arts, 2019
Glamour Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, 2019
Lorne Pierce Medal, 2019
The Center for Fiction Inaugural On Screen Award, 2019
Kurd LaBwitz Award, 2019
Emerson-Thoreau Medal, 2019
Stylist Icon Award, 2020
The Ambassador Richard C. Holbrook Distinguished Achievement Award, 2020
UC Santa Cruz Foundational Medal , 2020
British Academy’s President’s Medal, 2020