Margaret Eleanor Atwood, CC, OOnt, FRSC, poet, novelist, critic, professor (born 18 November 1939 in Ottawa, ON). A varied and prolific writer, Margaret Atwood is among the most celebrated authors in Canadian history. Her writing is noted for its careful craftsmanship and precision of language, which lend a sense of inevitability and a resonance to her words. In her fiction, Atwood has explored the issues of our time, capturing them in the satirical, self-reflexive mode of the contemporary novel. She has written 14 novels, nine short-story collections, 16 books of poetry, and 10 volumes of non-fiction. She has received two Governor General’s Literary Awards, two Booker Prizes, a Scotiabank Giller Prize, and numerous other honours and accolades. She is a Companion of the Order of Canada and a Chevalier of the l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.

- from The Canadian Encyclopedia