Atwood Apocalype

On Thursday night, writer Margaret Atwood returned to Cambridge to give a talk about her new book, “MaddAddam.” Cambridge holds a special allure for Atwood; it is where she set her renowned novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” and also where she earned an M.A. in English from Radcliffe College in 1962. With a purse slung over her shoulder and a quietly melodic voice, Atwood addressed her fans with chutzpah and humor. “I’m glad to be back in the scene of my youthful indiscretions,” she said. She rode the wave of laughter that followed before admitting that her “youthful indiscretions” mainly included eating too many ice creams.

An author of over 50 volumes of poetry, short stories, children’s stories, and novels, Atwood began her talk by singing one of the hymns she wrote into her latest series, a trilogy that includes “Oryx and Crake” and “The Year of the Flood” and ends with “MaddAddam.” The hymn was meant to celebrate Mole Day, a fictional children’s holiday in “The Year of the Flood,” and Atwood carried the tune well, carefully hitting all of the notes. The rest of the talk proceeded as whimsically as the beginning, with Atwood demonstrating her impressive awareness of current science, social media, and odd factoids.

Despite her age, the 73-year-old Atwood has successfully kept current and navigated her way through the changing relationship writers have with their readers. She “crowd-sourced” the room for a pair of reading glasses and mentioned developments in scientific research such as a recent study that proposed putting purring cats on the heads of people with migraines might alleviate some of the pain. She has an active and appreciative Twitter following, and she tweets to thank bookstores for their support, to campaign to “Save Ontario’s bees!” and to confess to “eating a preparatory spinach salad RIGHT NOW.” She described her online presence and willingness to speak at so many events as a form of generosity that makes both the recipients of her literary attention and herself happier in the long run.

It is astonishing to remember, while listening to Atwood’s charming and eccentric talk, that she creates such harrowing and realistic dystopias in her novels. Her work is often classified as science fiction, and much of it takes place in the future, at times when humans have managed to ruin themselves and their society through bad governance or a deadly disease of some sort. Perhaps most interesting is that many of these horrifying futures are set in New England. “I find the Boston area very convenient for dystopias,” Atwood said. “I think it’s a thing people toss around so lightly—the saying ‘It could never happen here.’”

Atwood even confessed to having a small library devoted to the Black Death in her home. When an audience member questioned how she is able to imagine incredibly dreary and hauntingly real dystopias, she mentioned that she found much of her inspiration from reading newspapers and Twitter feeds. “I think what you’re really asking is how I get through the day,” she said.

Many of her stories focus on the survivors of catastrophic events, and their worlds feel claustrophobic and immediate. Her knowledge, referred to during the talk, of obscure skills like knowing how to skin and barbeque small rodents and what to do in case one finds oneself in a desert or the open sea, creates a realistic and engrossing experience for her readers. She writes, she said, for an audience who think the way she does: that the apocalypse might be just around the corner, but the only thing humans can do is get through the day and take pleasure in personal interactions. “To be a writer, you have to assume a future reader,” Atwood said. Her stories go a step farther—not only assuming a future reader, but also trusting there will be someone left to tell the story.

—Staff writer Virginia R. Marshall can be reached at virginia.marshall@thecrimson.com.