Born November 18, 1939, in Ottawa Ontario, Canada; daughter of Carl Edmund (an entomologist) and Margaret Dorothy Atwood; married Graeme Gibson (a writer); children: Jess (daughter). Education: University of Toronto, B.A., 1961; Radcliffe College, A.M., 1962; Harvard University, graduate study, 1962-63 and 1965- 67. Politics: "William Morrisite." Religion: "Immanent Transcendentalist." Memberships: PEN International, Amnesty International, Writers' Union of Canada (vice chair, 1980-81), Royal Society of Canada (fellow), Canadian Civil Liberties Association (member of board, 1973-75), Canadian Centre, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (honorary member), Anglophone (president, 1984-85). Addresses: Home: Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Agent: c/o Random House, 1745 Broadway New York, NY 10019.

POETRY

• Double Persephone, Hawkshead Press (Ontario, Canada), 1961.
• The Circle Game, Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, MI), 1964, revised edition, House of Anansi Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1978.
• Kaleidoscopes Baroque: A Poem, Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, MI), 1965.
• Talismans for Children, Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, MI), 1965.
• Speeches for Doctor Frankenstein, Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, MI), 1966.
• The Animals in That Country, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1968.
• The Journals of Susanna Moodie, Oxford University Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1970.
• Procedures for Underground, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1970.
• Power Politics, House of Anansi Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1971, Harper (New York, NY), 1973.
• You Are Happy, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1974.
• Selected Poems, 1965-1975, Oxford University Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1976, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1978.
• Marsh Hawk, Dreadnaught Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1977.
• Two-headed Poems, Oxford University Press, 1978, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1981.
• Notes Toward a Poem That Can Never Be Written, Salamander Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1981.
• True Stories, Oxford University Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1981, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1982.
• Snake Poems, Salamander Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1983.
• Interlunar, Oxford University Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1984.
• Selected Poems II: Poems Selected and New, 1976-1986, Oxford University Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1986.
• Morning in the Burned House, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1995.
• Eating Fire: Selected Poetry, 1965-1995, Virago Press (London, England), 1998.

Also author of Expeditions, 1966, and What Was in the Garden, 1969.

NOVELS

• The Edible Woman, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1969, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1970, reprinted, Anchor Press (New York, NY), 1998.
• Surfacing, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1972, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1973, reprinted, Anchor Press (New York, NY), 1998.
• Lady Oracle, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1976, reprinted, Anchor Press (New York, NY), 1998.
• Life before Man, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1979, reprinted, Anchor Press (New York, NY), 1998.
• Bodily Harm, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1981, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1982, reprinted, Anchor Press (New York, NY), 1998.
• Encounters with the Element Man, William B. Ewert (Concord, NH), 1982.
• Unearthing Suite, Grand Union Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1983.
• The Handmaid's Tale, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1985, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1986, reprinted, Chelsea House Publishers (Philadelphia, PA), 2001.
• Cat's Eye, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1988, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1989.
• The Robber Bride, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1993.
• Alias Grace, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1996.
• The Blind Assassin, Random House (New York, NY), 2000.
• Oryx and Crake, Nan A. Talese (New York, NY), 2003.
• The Tent, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday (New York, NY), 2006.
• The Year of the Flood, Nan A. Talese (New York, NY), 2009.

• Dancing Girls and Other Stories, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1977, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1982, reprinted, Anchor Press (New York, NY), 1998.
• Bluebeard's Egg and Other Stories, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1983, Anchor Doubleday (New York, NY), 1998.
• Murder in the Dark: Short Fictions and Prose Poems, Coach House Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1983.
• Wilderness Tips and Other Stories, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1991.
• Good Bones, Coach House Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1992, published as Good Bones and Simple Murders, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1994.
• A Quiet Game: And Other Early Works, edited and annotated by Kathy Chung and Sherrill Grace, Juvenilia Press (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), 1997.
• The Tent, Doubleday (New York, NY), 2006.
• Moral Disorder: And Other Stories, Nan A. Talese (New York, NY), 2006.

• The Trumpets of Summer (radio play), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC-Radio), 1964.
• Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature, House of Anansi Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1972.
• The Servant Girl (teleplay), CBC-TV, 1974.
• Days of the Rebels, 1815-1840, Natural Science Library, 1976.
• The Poetry and Voice of Margaret Atwood (recording), Caedmon (New York, NY), 1977.
• Up in the Tree (juvenile), McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1978.
• (Author of introduction) Catherine M. Young, To See Our World, GLC Publishers, 1979, Morrow (New York, NY), 1980.
• (With Joyce Barkhouse) Anna's Pet (juvenile), James Lorimer, 1980.
• Snowbird (teleplay), CBC-TV, 1981.
• Second Words: Selected Critical Prose, House of Anansi Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1982, 2000.
• (Editor) The New Oxford Book of Canadian Verse in English, Oxford University Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1982.
• (Editor, with Robert Weaver) The Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories in English, Oxford University Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1986.
• (With Peter Pearson) Heaven on Earth (teleplay), CBC-TV, 1986.
• (Editor) The Canlit Foodbook, Totem Books (New York, NY), 1987.
• (Editor, with Shannon Ravenal) The Best American Short Stories, 1989, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1989.
• For the Birds, illustrated by John Bianchi, Firefly Books (Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada), 1991.
• (Editor, with Barry Callaghan; and author of introduction) The Poetry of Gwendolyn MacEwen, Exile Editions (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Volume 1: The Early Years, 1993, Volume 2: The Later Years, 1994.
• Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut (juvenile), illustrated by Maryann Kovalski, Workman (New York, NY), 1995.
• Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature (lectures), Oxford University Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.
• Some Things about Flying, Women's Press (London, England), 1997.
• (With Victor-Levy Beaulieu) Two Solicitudes: Conversations (interviews), translated by Phyllis Aronoff and Howard Scott, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.
• (Author of introduction) Women Writers at Work: The "Paris Review" Interviews, edited by George Plimpton, Random House (New York, NY), 1998.
• Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing (lectures), Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2002.
• Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes (juvenile), illustrated by Dusan Petricic, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003.
• (With others) Story of a Nation: Defining Moments in Our History, Doubleday Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.
• (Author of introduction) Christian Bok, editor, Ground Works: Avant-Garde for Thee, House of Anansi Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.
• Moving Targets: Writing with Intent, House of Anansi Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.
• Bashful Bob and Doleful Dorinda (juvenile), illustrated by Dusan Petricic, Key Porter Kids (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.
• (With others) New Beginnings: Sold in Aid of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Earthquake Charities, Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 2005.
• Writing with Intent: Essays, Reviews, Personal Prose, 1983-2005, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2005.
• The Penelopiad (part of the Knopf "Myth Series"), Knopf (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.
• Curious Pursuits: Occasional Writing, 1970-2005, Virago (London, England), 2005.
• Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, Virago (London, England), 2008.

Contributor to anthologies, including Five Modern Canadian Poets, 1970, The Canadian Imagination: Dimensions of a Literary Culture, Harvard University Press, 1977, and Women on Women, 1978. Contributor to periodicals, including Atlantic, Poetry, New Yorker, Harper's, New York Times Book Review, Saturday Night, Tamarack Review, and Canadian Forum.