CBC Atwood at 80
Good riddance Don Cherry and do better Ron McLean. Now it's Margaret Atwood's moment in the meagre sun of November as she turns 80 this week.
Actually Ms Atwood is literary royalty in Canada so she has been deservedly basking in a stronger light for a long time now. We've been reminded that the accolades began while she was a poet still in her twenties and include two Booker Prizes and both the Governor General and Giller awards. She took an interesting approach to debt in her Massey Lectures in which the second part, Debt and Sin, explores the theological side, including moral or ethical characteristics attributed to debtors and creditors by society and religion.
Walrus Magazine
A CBC Q interview a reminded me that as a girl she began attending Sunday School on her own, since her parents weren't particularly religious. She won a scripture memorization prize in a United Church (I think) but in that Massey lecture she went Presbyterian with the "forgive us our debts" phrase. She has pointed out along the way that despite her novel The Handmaid's Tale with its sinister pseudo-theocracy of Gilead she is not anti-religion or anti-Christianity. She is highly skeptical of those who co-opt faith for their own oppressive purposes.
Here is a link to a worthwhile interview in Sojourners magazine from nearly three years ago in which she touches on the Beatitudes and Matthew 25. Links to a CBC interactive and a Walrus piece as well
https://sojo.net/articles/margaret-atwood-christianity-handmaid-s-tale-and-what-faithful-activism-looks-today
https://www.cbc.ca/radiointeractives/cbcbooks/atwood-at-80
https://thewalrus.ca/the-making-of-margaret-atwood/
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