5 postsAtwood is invited to participate in Suzuki’s final speaking tour, to advocate for the addition of environmental rights to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Atwood is one of many Canadian celebrities participating in the tour, including musicians, actors, and writers. Suzuki emphasizes
Despite living in a country where taking care of one another is something we just do, our right to breathe fresh air, drink clean water and eat healthy food is not recognized.
Atwood lends her support to a small farming community in Midhurst, Ontario, where citizens are petitioning against transforming Midhurst’s 2,000 acres of farmland into a suburban city. In a statement, Atwood argues
If you’ve got prime farmland, why don’t you use it as prime farmland? It took 13,000 years to build that soil. Once that soil is gone, it’s gone.
Atwood is presented with an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh at a ceremony in Toronto, Canada, along with other prominent Canadian citizens. University vice-chancellor Sir Timothy O’Shea says:
The University of Edinburgh has very strong ties with Canada, and I am delighted that we have been able to celebrate these not only by holding the general council meeting in Toronto, but also by recognising the work of these honorary graduates.
HBO, along with director Darren Aronofsky, announces plans to develop Atwood’s MaddAddam book trilogy into a science fiction series for the network. Atwood herself will be a consulting producer for the project.
The first book in the Maddadam trilogy, Oryx and Crake, is published. The book is a work of dystopian fiction, taking place after an apocalyptic event that leaves the world barely populated. Describing the novel, Atwood says
I do frighten myself, but a) it’s fiction, and b) nothing can be predicted, because there are too many variables. So I’m looking at possible futures, not inevitable ones.