Margaret Atwood is one of the biggest names in the literary world.

The 83-year-old Canadian author and poet has written over 50 books, published in more than 45 countries.

Kat's Eye and The Blind Assassin are just a few of Margaret's famous works.

But it was her 1985 classic The Handmaid's Tale that garnered massive acclaim and popularity.

She sold more than 8 million copies of the English version, and the recent TV adaptation won multiple Emmy Awards.

Her stories can be deep and dystopian, examining

a world many don't wish to think about. I have the chance to speak with her exclusively around

the time she published her most recent book, Babe in the Woods. We met at the University of Toronto

where she attended college, and we began by reminiscing. We're here in your alma mater.

In your most recent book you wrote about the curious unfolding of time, does it feel a little bit like that sitting here now where you studied?

Well, I didn't study in this library because it wasn't built yet.

So I don't have that relationship with it,

but over time, once it did get built, it was a really good place to send my manuscripts once the book was published.

So they're all in there. It's just better than throwing them out, don't you think?

I know that I spoke with some of the librarians as I entered, and I know they're quite appreciative to have your archives here. Yes, it got a little bit backed up during COVID because there wasn't

anybody here. So then I expect they got a slight deluge, which they then had to sort out.

But to be on this campus at all, I know it is a campus that you appreciated in many ways.

What was the 18-year-old?

17.

17.

Yes, I skipped.

Of course you did.

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