Born on November 18, 1939, Margaret Atwood is an astute Canadian novelist, poet, essayist and an environmental activist. Most of her works are based on myths and fairy tales and has published about fifteen poetry books. Margaret Atwood has come out with several initiatives including the invention and development of the LongPen technology. In 2004, Margaret Atwood co-founded Syngrafii Inc. which is into the development, production, and distribution of her LongPen technology.
Margaret Atwood has been honored in several forms for her works and initiatives including her induction into the Canadian Walk of Fame in 2001, Governor General Award and Prince of Asturias Award in Literature among several others. She has also contributed as a founding trustee of the Griffin Poetry Prize.
Early Life And Education
Margaret Atwood was born on November 18, 1939, in Ottawa Ontario, Canada to Margaret Dorothy and Carl Edmund Atwood. She is the second child of three siblings. Atwood’s father was an entomologist and the mother a former dietician and nutritionist. Margaret Atwood had interruptions in her education because of the nature of her father’s job. The family had to move frequently from one place to another. However, she loved to read literature, comic books, animal stories and Grimm’s Fairy Tales among others. Through her readings, Margaret Atwood gained much interest in writing poems and plays at a very young age.
Margaret Atwood attended and graduated from the Leaside High School in Leaside, Toronto in 1957. After high school, Margaret Atwood enrolled at the Victoria College at the University of Toronto. There, Margaret Atwood developed her writing skills and wrote poems and articles in the college literary journal, Acta Victoriana.
Four years later, Margaret Atwood graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English with honors as well as a minor in philosophy and French. In 1961 Margaret Atwood pursued and received master’s degree (MA) at Harvard’s Radcliffe College in 1962 and later a doctorate at the Harvard University but did not complete her dissertation.
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Teaching Career
Margaret Atwood after her education taught in school like the University of British Columbia in 1665 and from 1967 to 1968 also taught at the Sir George Williams University in Montreal. Margaret Atwood also taught at University of Alberta from 1969 to 1970, from 1970 to 1972 at the York University in Toronto and also served as visiting M.F.A Chair at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1985. Atwood last teaching job was at the New York University where Margaret Atwood served as a Berg Professor of English.
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