I was so excited to see Margaret Atwood because my mother has spoken of her writing in such high regard. In fact, I called up my mom right away to tell her  I would be seeing Margaret Atwood live and I could tell she was pretty jealous. I have always been an avid reader, so I’m always interested in listening to authors speak about their works. I can definitely say seeing Atwood receive the IAH medal was an amazing experience. I could tell it was going to be a good presentation when she said the medal would make a “good murder weapon.” I never imagined a 75 year old would have such a great sense of humor!

I wasn’t completely familiar with her works, but the short introduction allowed me to have a sense of her interests. However, it gave no indication of her one of a kind personality. I found Atwood to be a very intelligent person who captured us from the moment she took the stage. The video she used to introduce herself was very funny and actually had some great points. I liked when she said, “a good goalie anticipates while a great goalie influences the play.” I thought that was a good thought. The people who have made an impact in this world have always also made a great influence as well. Atwood is a writer who has made a great influence in the literary world.

She then proceeded to read from her new short story collection the Stone Mattress. I learned that the picked the title of her book from the greek word “stromatolite”. It means a fossil formed in shallow waters. I thought that was really cool, because this semester I’ve been able to learn so much about greek history by reading Natasha’s blog, so I was able to make a connection. I noticed that her books have a lot to do with human life and observation. Her writing is very vivid and lively. She is able to emotionally connect to the reader through her characters. She uses many of her own personal experiences to develop her characters. One of the main points she made was about age. Her attitude on age reminded me of the saying, “Age is just a number.” She herself is quite an old person, but has the livelihood of a young woman. Her sense of humor and wit gave me a great sense of her writing style. Back to age though! Atwood mentioned how when she was young she believed age to deterrent to life. She wrote in one of her earlier books how an older character was weak. She now knows that is not true. With  age comes great knowledge and experience that do not make you weak but make you very strong, maybe not physically, but definitely emotionally and mentally.

My favorite quote from the night was when Atwood was describing her writing process. She said she, “stands at the edge of lake and takes the plunge, screaming.” I think that applies to so many facets of life. You have to be able to take that plunge to be able to truly create something amazing and to discover what are your greatest strengths. Atwood confessed how she sometimes has to start over three times before she able to get  going. We shouldn’t be afraid to fall or fail, because it’s those experiences that shape who we are and make us into better people.