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Margaret Atwood: Closet cartoonist
Poet, novelist, storywriter and essayist — the Ottawa native is a Canadian literary giant. Margaret Atwood first raised eyebrows as a young poet in the 1960s. Since then, one of Canada's most written about writers has struggled to keep her personal life private. Over her prolific career, Atwood has earned a reputation for being brilliant but aloof. But her caustic tongue and wicked sense of humour only fuel Atwood's stature as an internationally acclaimed writer.
Kanadian Kulture Komic, spelt with Ks because it's "just one of those stupid jokes," follows the adventures of Survival Woman. Atwood, an established novelist, poet, storywriter and now cartoonist, talks about being one of the most written about writers in Canada. "You're supposed to do one thing," she says, "if you do more than that, people get confused and want to write about you."
• Journalist Rick Salutin convinced his friend Margaret Atwood to join the magazine, which resulted in the Kanadian Kulture Komic strip.
• Her pseudonym for her cartoon strips came from the initials of a 19th century political cartoonist who simply signed his name as B.G.
• The May/June 1978 issue of This Magazine included an ad for a set of 10 Survival Woman cards "ineptly drawn by Bart Gerrard."
• Atwood uses the name O.W. Toad, which is an anagram of Atwood, for the copyright of her books. It's also the domain name of her website.
Program: 90 Minutes Live
Broadcast Date: Jan. 12, 1978
Guest(s): Margaret Atwood
Host: Peter Gzowski
Duration: 14:32
Last updated: March 2, 2012
Page consulted on April 10, 2013
All Clips from this Topic
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Margaret Atwood splashes onto the literary stage with her critically a...
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The "Quiet Mata Hari" talks about her nickname and her latest collecti...
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A nervous Gibson interviews the acclaimed writer and his future wife.
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Survival is hailed as a monumental achievement in Canadian literature.
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Atwood talks about dabbling in puppetry, opera and her first TV appear...
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The critically acclaimed novelist talks about her third and latest nov...
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The writer lives up to her reputation as being difficult.
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Margaret Atwood and singer Sylvia Tyson reminisce about the Bohemian E...
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The writer behind Bart Gerrard and Kanadian Kulture Komics.
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Atwood makes her debut as children's author and illustrator.
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Atwood on the importance of modern female writers.
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Atwood explains how she chose the poems for the new edition.
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Canada's leading writer on the importance of free speech.
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Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is hailed as a literary breakthrough.
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Canadian authors launch a different sort of book.
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The Booker Prize winning author cracks jokes and recalls her first boo...
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Poet, novelist, storywriter and essayist -- the Ottawa native is a Can...