Margaret Atwood

The extraordinary life story of science fiction and fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) who, in spite of remaining for many years on the sidelines of the mainstream literature, managed to be recognized as one of the most remarkable US writers of all time, due to the relevance of her work and her commitment to the human condition.

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For decades, Margaret Atwood has been universally acclaimed as Canada's greatest living writer. Fearlessly outspoken in life and in her work, Atwood has always been an unrelenting provocateur. Now at the age of 77, her star shines brighter and bolder than ever with an explosive television adaptation of her best-known work The Handmaid's Tale, which was first published in 1985. It is a dystopian work of speculative fiction set in the future, which has drawn comparison with aspects of Donald Trump's leadership, in particular the charges of misogyny which have inflamed anti-Trump campaigners across America. Alan Yentob meets Margaret Atwood in Toronto and discovers how a childhood spent between the Canadian wilderness and the city helped shape her vision of herself and the world, set alight her imagination and set her forth on a path to literary success.

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Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship.

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The fantastic adventures of a plucky literary girl and her friends.

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The story of Canada's leading poet and the A-Frame cabin he built. Now Canada's leading musicians and artists come together to tell the tale of Al Purdy.

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A drama-documentary telling the story of the celebrated gathering in Geneva, 1816 which led to the creation of both Frankenstein and the first modern vampire story.

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One-hour annual event that celebrates leaders at the forefront of LGBTQ equality.

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Seth Meyers, who is "Saturday Night Live's" longest serving anchor on the show's wildly popular "Weekend Update," takes over as host of NBC's "Late Night" — home to A-list celebrity guests, memorable comedy and the best in musical talent. As the Emmy Award-winning head writer for "SNL," Meyers has established a reputation for sharp wit and perfectly timed comedy, and has gained fame for his spot-on jokes and satire. Meyers takes his departure from "SNL" to his new post at "Late Night," as Jimmy Fallon moves to "The Tonight Show".

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Two washed-up, middle-aged adventuresses are under the delusion literary icon Margaret Atwood has invited them to stay with her in downtown Toronto. Having nothing better to do for the summer, they turn this into a full-on adventure traveling by bike and canoe from Sudbury to Ms. Atwood's front lawn. En route, they experience a series of misadventures, encountering themes and images from some of Atwood's best-loved novels.

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On the eve of her 70th birthday, Canadian writer Margaret Atwood set out on an international tour criss-crossing the British Isles and North America to celebrate the publication of her new dystopian novel, The Year of the Flood. Rather than mount a traditional tour to promote a book's publication, Atwood conceived and executed something far more ambitious and revelatory--a theatrical version of her novel. Along the way she reinvented what a book tour could (and maybe should) be. But Atwood wasn't selling books as much as advocating an idea: how humanity must respond to the consequences of an environmentally compromised planet before her work of speculative fiction transforms into prophesy.

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Based on a book of poetry by Dennis Lee, YESNO is a playful view of a planet on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Humphrey Bogart meets Werner Herzog in the heart of darkness. Leonard Cohen, Michael Ondaatje and Margaret Atwood voice Lee's poetry over flood of images that mix live action and animation, calligraphy and DNA.

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Paris Stories explores the force of fiction for a woman who left Canada and her "good job for a girl" to live in a city where writers weren't viewed with suspicion and asked for three months rent in advance. Considered by both critics and her literary peers to be one of the most talented women writing in the English language, this film offers an intimate glimpse of a fiercely private woman devoted to the compact elegance of the short story.

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This feature doc profiles acclaimed writer Alistair MacLeod. Hailed internationally as a master of the short story, MacLeod also wrote a novel, No Great Mischief, which was celebrated around the world. Depicting men and women living out their lives against the haunting landscape that surrounds them, most of MacLeod's work is firmly based in Cape Breton even if his characters stray elsewhere. Focusing on the complexities and abiding mysteries at the heart of human relationships, MacLeod maps the close bonds and impassable chasms that lie between people and invokes memory and myth to celebrate the continuity of the generations. This film portrait explores the life and work of this giant of literature.

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Host Guy A. Lepage brings together six to eight personalities from different milieus—sports, politics, stage productions and more—that are the subject of everyone’s conversations and/or are important figures in recent events. Participants are invited to speak freely, voicing their opinions on headline news or on a subject that is near and dear to them.

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The biggest names from the world of art, film, music, literature and dance. Alan Yentob gets close up with those shaping today's cultural world.

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"Michael Ondaatje called Gwendolyn MacEwen 'the last of the bardic poets'. In the early 60s, she astonished the nascent beat scene at Toronto's Bohemian Embassy with her exotic looks and her accomplished writing style. During her lifetime MacEwen travelled to Greece and Egpyt, married twice, wrote novels, translated Greek verse, took lovers and wrote radio scripts. Above all, she wrote luminous poetry, some of which is sensitively visualized in this thoughtful, pensive work which features insights from Margaret Atwood, Judith Merrill and Rosemary Sullivan." -- Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival

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ABC Daytime's morning chatfest, currently featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro discussing the most exciting events of the day. Hot topics in the news, the best experts in their field, celebrity interviews and general entertainment are all part of The View.

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Internationally acclaimed author Margaret Atwood has achieved distinction as a poet and as a novelist. Yet she remains a most elusive literary figure. In a quiet encounter on Atwood's island retreat, the film's director seeks to discover what shapes this celebrated Canadian writer's fiction and what motivates her characters.

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In Margaret Atwood: Once in August, filmmaker Michael Rubbo attempts to discover what shapes the celebrated writer's fiction and what motivates her characters. As one of Canada's most distinguished poets and novelists, Atwood is also one of this country's most elusive literary figures.

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