Margaret Atwood: vision and forms

Abstract

A prolific writer versatile social critic, Canadian novelist poet Margaret Atwood has recently published Bluebeard s Egg (short stories), Interlunar (poetry), Handmaid s Tale critically acclaimed best-selling novel.This international collection of essays evaluates the complete body of her workboth the acclaimed fiction the innovative poetry. The critics represented hereAmerican, Australian, Canadianaddress Atwood s handling of such themes as feminism, ecology, the gothic novel, the political relationship between Canada the United States.The essays on Atwood s novels introduce the general reader her development as a writer, as she matures from a basically subjective, poetic vision, seen in Surfacing and Edible Woman, to an increasingly engaged, political stance, exemplified by Handmaid s Tale. Other essays examine Atwood s poetry, from her transformation of the Homeric model her criticisms of the United States relationship with Canada. The last two critical essays offer a unique view of Atwood through an investigation of her use of the concept of shamanism through a presentation of eight of her vivid watercolors.The volume ends with Atwood presenting her own views in an interview with Jan Garden Castro in a conversation between Atwood students at the University of Tampa, Florida.