I had the pleasure of attending Margaret Atwood’s IAH medal ceremony on Wednesday evening. I was unfamiliar with Atwood’s work entering the ceremony, but after a brief description of her literary work, I was able to understand her true character and writing style.

While Atwood did not touch on her own compelling ideas in the beginning of her time on stage, she offered the audience a glimpse into her short stories, filled with themes of past love and desire. Her plot line of Constance and Gavin illustrates her ability to portray a relationship where the two have gone their separate ways, but have not forgotten about each other. I was surprised by her humor and sexual nature throughout the pieces, further displaying her depth as an author.

During her question and answer session, I was interested in Atwood’s responses, as well as how her humor would come through her personal reflection. One thing I was compelled to hear from her was her explanation of the distinction between speculative fiction and science fiction. She was asked if she would classify her work as science fiction, which she immediately shot down. She claimed that her work fell along the lines of “speculative fiction”, which she defines as fiction where the topics are realistic and have the potential to occur. She rejects her work as science fiction, which is different because of the topics presented are far off in the future, such as aliens and robots. Atwood’s distinction was interesting as I was unaware of a “speculative fiction” genre, which relates to many novels that are published. While Atwood admits that some of her short stories are science fiction, her novels are mostly speculative as she took ideas from common life. Her response was interesting because it opened me up to a new perspective of literature, where the science fiction genre might not be as expansive as I previously thought.

I was also compelled by Atwood’s hope for the future through literature. She describes how her involvement in the Future Library Project, which will help people one hundred years from now experience reading from modern authors. Her indication that books are time capsules into a time and place stuck with me, as she expressed that we can learn about history and culture through the pages of a novel. Atwood stresses that novels today will be useful in the future because of people continuing to read and their ability to understand how our present day world was.

Another compelling idea that Atwood presented during the ceremony was the analogy she presented of her writing process. She compared her process to jumping into a cold lake during the summer, where we second guess ourselves before we take the leap. Her analogy was relatable to me through my summer experiences, but it also resembled her own doubts about writing a piece. She goes on to explain how one might stay in the water for a little but, but eventually come out. This activity mirrors her own of writing and throwing it out because she believes it isn’t good enough. Atwood’s analogy interested me because of how she identifies her own mistakes, which she may identify in her writing after spending a large amount of time on it. This indication of her process spoke to me, expressing that in order to create the best writing possible, you may need to float around in the “water” longer.

Margaret Atwood’s IAH medal ceremony was different than what I expected it to be, but I was pleasantly surprised to see her wit and intellect displayed for the entire audience. This ceremony made me interested in her work, and I hope that her personality will carry through to future generations that read her stories.