the handmaid's tale

Music Monday – The Handmaids Tale

Margaret Atwood has an innate ability to paint a dystopia that feels extremely realistic and close to the present day world. There has been renewed interest in Atwood’s seminal novel The Handmaid’s Tale due to its relevance and the Emmy-winning Hulu adaptation. To celebrate this strong Canadian author and fueler of nightmares, we created a playlist inspired by The Handmaid’s Tale. The motifs for the playlist were medal protest songs that illustrate themes of the books. From Burn the Witch, which illustrates the power the commanders have over the handmaids and how fear rules their lives, to Secrets by One Republic, which …

Margaret Atwood Wins Dayton Literary Peace Prize

Valarie D'Amico

Book Culture

Margaret Atwood, the iconic Canadian author whose body of work includes The Handmaid’s Tale and Alias Grace, was announced as the winner of the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award last Monday. This award celebrates the ability of literature to promote peace and justice globally. Atwood’s most well-known novel, the aforementioned The Handmaid’s Tale, concerns America becoming a Totalitarian Dystopia, where women’s rights are stripped away by a theocratic government, and fertile women are forced to bear children for men and their wives. The novel has become more popular over the last few years with a Hulu adaptation starring Elizabeth …

10 of the Coolest Heroines in Fiction

Sarah Walsh

For much of history, much like in real life, female characters in fiction were sidelined, often not promoted to the front like their male counterparts until recently. But this has begun to change, with the strong and nuanced female character coming to the forefront of genres like fantasy, science fiction, historical and more! And even looking back throughout literary history, there are numerous examples of kickass women who paved the way forward. Here some of the best, counting down from ten! 10. Offred- The Handmaid’s Tale Image Via Amazon The Handmaid’s Tale tells of a future where women have been …

Top Picks: 5 Stellar Sci-Fi and Fantastical Fantasy Picks

Shawn Cunningham

Book Culture

Each week, Bookstr gives you a look at some of the best novels in a particular genre for your continued reading list. Today, we’ll be recommending five Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels that you have to get on board reading or else you might be unprepared to deal with technological villains, menacing zombies, or the horrors of a tyrannical government. 5-Testaments by Margret Atwood Image Via Encylopedia Britannica How could we forget about Margret Atwood? A total boss, she’s the woman behind this Tweet. THIS IS HOW YOU TWEET J K / Image Via Reddit …

Beloved Author Graeme Gibson Passes At 85

Sage Negron

Book Culture

Canadian author and conservationist Graeme Gibson passed away on Wednesday, September 18th at the age of 85 due to dementia. The announcement was made by Gibson’s publisher, Penguin Random House Canada. Image Via Georgia Straight Gibson is known for writing experimental fiction novels such as Five Legs and Communion, both centering around the character Felix Oswald and his dark, twisted coming-of-age adventures. An avid bird watcher, Gibson also wrote collections based on his bird watching, his most well-known being The Bedside Book of Birds. Gibson was the longtime partner of Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s …