Margaret Atwood

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
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