Margaret Atwood at First Parish Church

Harvard Book Store welcomes Margaret Atwood―prize-winning author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays, including The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments, and a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to literature―for a discussion of her memoir, Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts.

There are two ticket options for this event.

1. Admission for Two + One Book: Includes admission for two and one hardcover copy of Book of Lives pre-signed by Margaret Atwood.
2. Admission for One + One Book: Includes admission for one and one hardcover copy of Book of Lives pre-signed by Margaret Atwood.

Note: Books bundled with tickets may only be picked up at the venue the night of the event, and cannot be picked up in-store beforehand. Ticket holders who purchased a book-included ticket and are unable to attend the event will be able to pick up their book at Harvard Book Store up to 30 days following the event. This offer expires after 30 days. Please note we cannot guarantee signed copies will be available to ticket holders who do not attend the event.

This presentation will last roughly 60-75 minutes. Additional pre-signed copies of Book of Lives will be available for purchase at the event, as well as some of Atwood's previous titles. There will be no signing line or meet and greet at this event. All books purchased as part of this event will be pre-signed.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • How does the greatest writer of our time tell her own story?
NAMED A NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THE WASHINGTON POST
"The most spectacular, hilarious, and generous autobiography of the last quarter century–or ever."—The Boston Globe
Raised by scientifically minded parents, Margaret Atwood spent most of each year in the wild forest of northern Quebec: a vast playground for her entomologist father and independent, resourceful mother. It was an unfettered and nomadic childhood, sometimes isolated but also thrilling and beautiful.
From this unconventional start, Atwood unfolds the story of her life, linking key moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel school year that would become Cat’s Eye to the unease of 1980s Berlin, where she began The Handmaid’s Tale. In pages alive with the natural world, reading and books, major political turning points, and her lifelong love for the charismatic writer Graeme Gibson, we meet poets, bears, Hollywood stars, and larger-than-life characters straight from the pages of an Atwood novel.
As she explores her past, Atwood reveals more and more about her writing, the connections between real life and art—and the workings of one of our very greatest imaginations.

Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. Her novels include Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin, and the MaddAddam trilogy. Her 1985 classic, The Handmaid’s Tale, was followed in 2019 by a sequel, The Testaments, which was a global number one bestseller and won the Booker Prize. Atwood has won numerous awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the PEN America Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. In 2019, she was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to literature. She lives in Toronto.

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.

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