Margaret Atwood on growing prominence in Trump era
TORONTO — Margaret Atwood isn’t celebrating the idea that the election of U.S. President Donald Trump has added a new level of resonance to her work.
The Canadian literary star is at the Toronto International Film Festival promoting the new CBC/Netflix miniseries “Alias Grace,” an adaptation of her 1996 novel about a poor Irish immigrant convicted of killing her employers in 1843.
The show comes on the heels of another series inspired by an Atwood book, the dystopian saga “The Handmaid’s Tale,” about a totalitarian theocracy that makes women property of the state and forces some to bear children for infertile couples. The TV series is up for 13 Emmy Awards on Sunday.
Both series examine the treatment of women and immigrants in society, with “The Handmaid’s Tale” having a particularly chilling effect amid the U.S. battle over rights to birth control and abortion.