News about Margaret Atwood

I went for breakfast with a book publisher a year or two ago. She told me - confidently, with a smile - that a book would be published that was going to be huge.

The new internet law passed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will guarantee life sentences to those who commit the worst speech offences on social media. By voters, the Online Harms Act, which was supposed to make social media platforms safer, is being portrayed as 'Orwellian' and as a 'overreach.' Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, said the bill was 'Lettres de Cachet all over again,' referring to royal diktats for detained civilians made by former Kings of France.

Following the publication of The Royal Society's annual magazine in December, the fellows are demanding an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, and Philip Pullman have all signed a letter to The Times about suspected 'censorship' over the pro-Palestine inscription. However, the church has denied that this was the reason for the magazine's demise. The writers have joined former presidents of the Royal Society of Literature Marina Warner and Colin Thubron to express their dissatisfaction with the 200-year-old institution's'significant brand damage.'

Elizabeth Day says she has made peace with the fact that she will never be a mother at 45, but she does not worry about having a baby 'every day.' Magpie author and host Lisa Hartwick lives in Vauxhall, south London, with her partner, financial tech CEO Justin Basini (pictured together, right). Elizabeth told The Times she had decided not to try again after learning she had failed to conceive with a donor egg.

What 's your boss like? When you're late back from lunch, they may moan about goals or make snippy remarks. Carrie Sun's employer was in a different league. His motto was "Speak faster, do faster, and decide faster." She'd rate her 'ability to collaborate' on a scale from one to five, but workers were expected to do better. 'So. He'd even evaluated her aura:' One of his ultra-detailed feedback sessions, 'you's got your enthusiasm.' Sun, 38, was the PA to a hedge fund founder, Boone Prescott, one of the world's youngest billionaires, and it was a career she adored. Why else would she do 14 interviews, including a session with a clinical psychologist, and supply 11 references to get it?

From a thrashestic political thriller about Russian espionage to stories of life in the Jim Crow period of the American South, check out our experts' picks of the best books to read this weekend. Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind (left), Diane Oliver's Neighbours (centre), and Ian Russell-Hsieh's I'm New Here (right).

After performers at the English National Opera (ENO) announced that they would go on strike over budget cuts, an operatic adaptation of the Handmaid's Tale is cancelled. Since unions representing the company's orchestra and chorus announced their intention to select the London Coliseum on opening night, ENO is frantically trying to devise a contingency plan to save the show. ' The musicians' Union and Equity reported the strike on Wednesday, minutes before the opera announced that BAFTA nominated actor Juliet Stevenson had joined the cast in a non-singing role for Margaret Atwood's acclaimed 1985 book. After being forced to relocate outside London by Arts Council England (ACE), which withdrew its subsidy in November 2022, the company was set to stage five separate performances in its shortened two-month season this year to save money. The unions said that the ENO's plans were "disproportionate, unprofitable for our workers at the ENO, as well as a complete disregard for the artistic workforce."

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a woman who had been detained in Iran for six years, gave a speech at a 2023 Booker Award ceremony in which she claimed to have kept a copy of Margaret Atwood's dystopian book in a'secret library' of her former prison ward. The book, which has been translated for television, film, and opera, is about the exploitation of women by an authoritarian government. "Books helped me to escape into the world of others when I was incapable of making one of my own," she said.

On Sunday, Irish writer Paul Lynch claimed the Booker Prize for fiction about a woman's fight to save her family in a dystopian Ireland's demises into totalitarianism and war under a far-right government. While readers regard Prophet Song as 'propulsive and unparing,' critics have been less generous, naming it as the 'weakest book on the shortlist' that won't withstand the test of time.' At a London literary award ceremony last night, a dystopian fictional version of Dublin was awarded the £50,000-pound literary award.

The judges of the Booker Prize have largely influenced their selection of this year's finalists, a book describing police and activists clashing in Ireland. After a full day of talks on Saturday, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, 46, was chosen champion, with judges arguing that current events were not a 'determining factor' in their decision. However, judges Esi Edugyan's chairman acknowledged yesterday that although the latest Dublin mayhem was not "particularly front of mind" at the time, it did play a role in their discussions. "It wasn't the deciding factor, but I admit that it was something that did get raised," she said. One cannot let world events determine what one chooses as the best book ever published.'

The Booker Prize honors writers from around the world, including Margaret Atwood, Hilary Mantel, and Sir Salman Rushdie winners. Esi Edugyan, chair of judges, revealed six names on Thursday at an exhibition in London that has recently reopened National Portrait Gallery. None of the authors have been nominated for the award before, and their books explore topics including immigration, financial hardship, the persecution of minorities, political terrorism, and the erosion of personal rights. North American writers lead the pack, with the list including two American writers and one Canadian author, as well as two Irish writers. Three Pauls have been nominated for the award.

According to a leading crime blogger, AI can be used by the world's best-loved authors to help write their books 'within a few years'. In the new thriller in his detective story, Ajay Chowdhury admits he has already turned to the technology to help his hero. He also used ChatGPT to speed up research and creating story suggestions, while AI editing software was used to raise the tempo and 'jazz' in his prose. According to him, the process cut the time it took to get a 'decent draft' to his publisher by a third. His confession comes as thousands of writers are fighting the technology, which they allege is using their words without permission or credit.

The price of the deal, which was not disclosed by either party on Thursday, was not disclosed, but it does refer to a cache of content dating back to 1985 and will continue to function for two years. The two companies' statements announcing the agreement said they are already looking at' potential use cases for generative AI in [their own] news products and services [their own] news products and services], but didn't elaborate how. OpenAI founder Sam Altman launched ChatGPT a few months ago, but the software has since taken off. That said, the rollout has already become polarizing, as well as sparking a surge in 'generative AI' products that can recreate text. Although many are skeptical - or outright outraged - over the latest technology, OpenAI and AP have boosted optimism about the future of the AI platform in the world, saying that both believe in the responsible design and use of these AI systems.' ChatGPT parent OpenAI has stuck up a deal with The Associated Press to license the publication's sprawling archive of news stories - all to better train the increasingly popular chatbot that has the eerie ability to mimic human writing

In the front row of Margaret Atwood's lecture, a newly discovered photograph from Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania seems to show Idaho quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger. The Handsmaid's Tale is a futuristic novel set in a totalitarian society in which women, nicknamed "handmaids," are expected to produce children for the 'commanders' and the ruling class of the Republic of Gilead, which was turned into a series on Hulu in 2017. In a rental house near the University of Idaho campus four years after the lecture, Kohberger was accused of killing Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin.

Many states have passed legislation committing librarians and book vendors to years in prison if they have 'obscene' titles to minors. At least five states have been passed and nine others are pending, allowing for the criminal conviction of school and library workers involved. Librarians had been banned from suing for obscene materials in almost every state, but recently, an increase in suspicion and indignation over some books in schools and libraries has resulted in legislation being changed.

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: The people of Canada, as Race Across The World (BBC), has a long tradition of giving generous to others. No kindness is too much for complete strangers. The locals have been obliging as five British couples trek the breadth of Canada, zigzagging up to the far north and down to the plains. Kevin and Claudia, the father and daughter of the frozen Yukon territory, didn't seem to be trapped until they met a French-speaking Catholic missionary. She gave them a lift for several hours and then let them pitch their tent in her back yard.

Sydney Sweeney is having a big moment. The 25-year-old actress is on her way to becoming a household name in Hollywood, from her starring roles on Euphoria and The White Lotus to the introduction of her line of swimwear for Frankie's Bikinis. In the first season of HBO's The Handmaids Tale and Sharp Objects, Sydney first made her mark before landing her roles as high schooler Cassie Howard in Euphoria and college student Olivia Mossbacher.

Brain dead women can be used as surrogates, according to Dr. Anna Smajdor (left), an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Oslo. The step, which the Norwegian writer herself admits is 'undoubtedly troubling,' would benefit 'prosecutive parents who want to have children but are unable to'. However, Dr. Smajdor also said that it might be a viable alternative for women who 'prefer not to' carry a child.' It would also be a choice for infertile and gay couples. The paper sparked outrage among social media users (right) who said that the term was 'demeaning to the whole idea of life as we know it.' Portrait: Catarina Sequeira, a former international athlete from Portugal who gave birth in 2019 after she had been declared brain dead.

Dua Lipa has been confirmed for the Hay Festival next year, alongside author Margaret Atwood and The Proclaimers. At the 36th edition of the literary festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, the singer, 27, who made the keynote address at this year's Booker Prize ceremony, will record her podcast, Dua Lipa: At Your Service. On Monday, she confirmed her appearance speaking with Olympian Mo Farah, Schitt's Creek's Dan Levy, and Trevor Noah as part of her interview series.

Chelsea Banning, a writer from the United States, said she was 'embarrassed' by the poor response to her first book, Of Crowns and Legends, at a signing. She was aided by Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood. The lives of Anwil and Ariadne Pendragon, King Arthur's fictional twins, are chronicled in Crowns and Legends, which is currently at number 3,218th on Amazon's bestsellers list. Miss Banning, who was left dissatisfied at the event in Ohio on Saturday, 15 years to write, and this is the first in a trilogy.

Sir Keir Starmer's plan this week to strip Britain's private schools of charitable status, obliging them to raise their already high fees. Jenni Murray (inset) begs him not to destabilize the private sector by making it too costly for the middle class to attend and reap the benefits. The UK-based journalist advises to look at bettering the existing state schools

In 1941, the celebrated English author (pictured right), who was plagued by mental illness throughout her life, drowned herself in the River Ouse near her Sussex home. The latest £50,000 bronze statue, which was unveiled this week, is in bad taste, 'insensitive,' and may even lead to similar suicide attempts, according to campaigners. However, Woolf's great-great niece Sophie Partridge (far left) said at the unveiling ceremony that the project had a "very narrow way of thinking," and that her late relative should not be defined by the way she died.

The internet has been divided by a macabre Halloween decoration installed outside a Sydney home for the forthcoming October 31 holiday. Two characters from The Handmaid's Tale are depicted by nooses from the front awning, depicting two characters from The Handmaid's Tale. The Handmaid's Tale, based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel, takes place in a dystopia where women, referred to as 'handmaids,' are enslaved in sexual servitude for the purpose of reproduction. The gruesome Halloween display shows how people who oppose the regime are publicly hanged.

Elisabeth Moss was all smiles as she attended The Handmaid's Tale premiere at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival on Thursday. The actress, 40, stood out in a dazzling plunging yellow gown that showcased her dazzling figure. As she graced the red carpet, she boosted her height in a pair of heels and accessorized with a silver ring.