Tour dates for The Testaments announced
Margaret Atwood’s long-awaited followup to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments, will be released in September, and along with it, Atwood will embark on a reading and speaking tour. We are releasing information on our Twitter page as we learn of individual dates, but all of them can be found on the events page of Atwood’s website, found here. So far, only UK, Ireland, and Canada book tour dates have been officially released (though other Atwood-related events in the United States and elsewhere are frequently announced, and are mentioned on our Twitter feed and Facebook page as we learn about them). We invite you to engage with us on social media, and are happy to re-post Atwood-related news.
The Guardian chooses Cat’s Eye for April reading group book
The Guardian recently took votes (which we at Atwood Society participating in, nominating Cat’s Eye as a matter of fact) for which Margaret Atwood book should be their reading group’s pick for April. In their announcement, The Guardian explains their choice, “the 1988 novel was shortlisted for the Booker prize and the Canadian Governor General’s award, and was described in the New York Times as ‘the finest addition to the Best Girlfriend genre yet.’”
Though Cat’s Eye is perhaps not as brutal as The Handmaid’s Tale, do not expect a soft book. There is plenty of betrayal and cruelty to go around, but still a lot of humor and beauty as well. This is a novel you won’t soon forget.
VH1 Trailblazer Honors to fete Margaret Atwood
What better way to celebrate International Women’s Day?
VH1 Trailblazer Honors 2019 will honor Margaret Atwood, along with #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Academy Award nominee Ava DuVernay. *
The special will air on both VH1 and Logo on March 8 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
*Ava DuVernay is no relation to Atwood Society officer Denise Du Vernay.
Season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale date announced
Breaking from previous years, instead of beginning in April, season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale will start on June 5. The later start date is to maintain the show’s high quality, but it is a bit curious, if only because “the late premiere date pushes The Handmaid’s Tale season three out of contention for the 2019 Emmy Awards, with June 1 as the eligibility cut-off date” (THR).
Comments by show runner Bruce Miller indicate that June will continue on her trek of rebelliousness in a major diversion from the original novel, promising “visceral victories” in season 3.
Coming soon: The Handmaid’s Tale graphic novel
At long last, the graphic novel of The Handmaid’s Tale is to be released March 26, 2019 by Penguin Random House. It is illustrated by Canadian artist Renee Nault.
New Year’s Honours 2019 includes Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood has joined an elite group of 65 people from the commonwealths in the Order of the Companions of Honour, part of the British honours system presented by the queen.
The Companion of Honour is a “special award granted to those who have made a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time.” [More here]
Atwood honored by Equality Now
At Equality Now’s fourth annual Make Equality Reality gala on December 3, 2018 in Los Angeles, Margaret Atwood was honored for “her longtime advocacy of women’s rights.”
Variety reports that, in her speech at the gala, Atwood said, “Enforced pregnancy is a form of slavery. It is time it’s recognized as such.” A while discussing the importance of hope, THR quotes Atwood remarking: “It’s not enough just to hope. You actually then have to do something other than hoping.”
Equality Now and supporters seek to challenge and defeat repressive laws regarding women’s rights, including sex trafficking, sexual violence, and ritual genital mutilation through an international network of activists.
Sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale coming September 2019
If you’re like us, you’ve been dying to know what happens to Offred after the book leaves off and how future historians got a hold of Offred’s story. After 35 we will finally get some answers as a sequel is coming. It will be called The Testaments and will take place 15 years after The Handmaid’s Tale left off. Atwood tells us that the story will be told by three female characters, and the publisher promises that “the book answers the question that has tantalized readers for decades: What happens to Offred?”
Read more at NPR.
Also, cheers to Stephen Colbert for his quip: “Margaret Atwood is writing a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, and Donald Trump is almost finished with the prequel.”
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