Literary icon Margaret Atwood on why The Handmaid’s Tale no longer feels like fiction

Literary icon Margaret Atwood on why The Handmaid’s Tale no longer feels like fiction

July 7, 2026 · 12 min

About this episode

Margaret Atwood discusses the relevance of her novel The Handmaid’s Tale in today's political climate.

Two-time Booker prize-winning author, Margaret Atwood has spent four decades warning what happens when democracy, women’s rights and free expression begin to erode. Today, many readers believe the world has caught up with her fiction. In this interview with FRANCE 24’s Eve Jackson, the author of The Handmaid’s Tale reflects on US President Donald Trump, the expanding book bans in the United States, the rollback of reproductive rights, censorship and why she torched an “unburnable” edition of her most famous novel.

People in this episode

Host: Eve Jackson

Guest: Margaret Atwood

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: FRANCE 24

Books & works: The Handmaid’s Tale

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