Margaret Atwood tells us which species she finds so annoying she might just kill it

Earlier this month, I found Margaret Atwood sitting backstage at Edmonton’s Jubilee Auditorium. The petite, and very poised, 84-year-old was there to talk to a sold-out crowd. Fans clutching novels, some wearing red cloaks, were gathering by the hundreds. She was to go on stage in half an hour. She never prepares, she tells me. “I’m not a politician,” she says. “I don’t have talking points.”

She does, however, have ideas. Lots of them. Atwood has published dozens of books — fiction, poetry and more —  since her debut novel, The Edible Woman, came out in 1969.

Since then, she’s become a literary sensation, winning the Booker and the Giller and pretty much all the others. She’s never been shy about bringing forward bold ideas or visions of the future — many consider the early 2000s Oryx and Crake trilogy to be extinction crisis prophecy — and has occasionally expressed complicated views that have “arguably annoyed everyone.”

But she perseveres in public life. And through the decades, Atwood has been keenly aware of the intersection of environmental values and her livelihood as a writer.

“The preservation of an environment similar to the one we have is a precondition of literature,” she said back in 2010. “Unless we can preserve such an environment, your writing and my writing and everyone else’s writing will become simply irrelevant, as there will be nobody left to read it.”

Atwood has dedicated significant resources to conservation, including through the non-profit bird observatory she founded with her late husband, Graeme Gibson.

Here, Atwood answers The Narwhal’s new Moose Questionnaire, which digs into our connection to the natural world. 

This interview is edited and condensed for clarity — all opinions are the subject’s own.

What’s the most awe-inspiring natural sight you’ve witnessed between the Pacific, Atlantic, 49th parallel and Hudson Bay, i.e. Canada?

Glacier calving, up around Lancaster Sound.

What’s the most awe-inspiring natural sight you’ve witnessed outside of Canada?

Mount St. Helens in eruption.

Think of three iconic Canadian animals. Choose one each to Kiss, Marry and Kill. 

Kiss: Snowy owl.

Marry: Northwestern wolf: such good dads!

Kill: Pelee Island chiggers. So annoying, and contribute nothing I can think of to the general welfare. They may not be iconic exactly, however.

Name a person or group doing something meaningful for the environment that everyone should know about:

Pelee Island Bird Observatory.

Name one person who could significantly help mitigate the climate crisis if they really wanted to:

Xi Jinping.

Outdoor cats: yes or no?

No. See Angel Catbird.

Tell us about a time you changed your mind about something, environmental or otherwise.

“Recompose” burial is better than cremation. It turns the dead quickly to compost that can be used in the garden.

Tell us about a time you tried to change someone else’s mind about something, environmental or otherwise.

He’s not right for you.

Yes, you have to choose: Rocky Mountains or Great Lakes?

Great Lakes.

Researchers at Yale University, the France-based Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society and other institutions have found women tend to be more concerned about climate change than men. Why do you think that is?

Children. Women invest more biomatter in them. They don’t like to think of their children being starved, drowned, burnt up in forest fires or killed by invasive climate-warming microbes, all of which are increasingly affected by a warming climate.

If you could dip a toe off Canada’s coastline, which ocean would it be in?

Atlantic, south shore of Nova Scotia.

Investigating problems. Exploring solutions

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.

SUBSCRIBE

Investigating problems. Exploring solutions

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.

SUBSCRIBE

What’s a beautiful or useful thing you’ve owned for a really long time?

My teeth. Useful.

What’s the farthest north you’ve ever been and what did you do there?

Grise Fiord, Ellesmere Island. I saw the monument to the people who were forcibly relocated there without adequate supplies.

What’s one way you interact with the natural world on a daily basis?

Dump biostuff into my compost bin.

If you could ask one person, alive or dead, about their thoughts on climate change, who would it be?

Graeme Gibson, because I’d like to talk with him again. I know what he’d say though. It isn’t printable.

Yes, you have to choose: smoked salmon or maple syrup?

Smoked salmon. Reluctantly.

Who, in your life, has had the greatest impact on your connection to nature?

My father, Dr. Carl Atwood, entomologist and conservationist, and his like-minded buddies of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Whose relationship with the natural world would you most like to have an impact on?

So much to choose, so little time. How about God? That one would have a plan ….

Would you rather be invited to Victoria and David Beckham’s Muskoka cottage, or Harry and Meghan Sussex’s B.C. escape?

Neither one, thanks. I prefer my own cottage. But thanks for asking.

Camping: yes or no?

Yes. As long as my knees can manage it.

Enjoying the Moose Questionnaire? We’re going to ask as many artists, athletes, politicians and cultural personalities as we can to answer it, so let us know if you have suggestions.