Picture of Margaret Atwood and Lotte Folke
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Margaret Atwood

Photo: Det Kgl. Bibliotek

International Authors' Stage: Margaret Atwood (CA) in conversation with Lotte Folke

Award-winning author Margaret Atwood is one of the most significant and influential writers alive today, particularly within genres such as dystopian and speculative fiction.

With biting satire and colourful imagination, she has written about equality, the climate crisis and a democracy in danger in novels that have become films, series and pop culture phenomena. Now she can be experienced in The Black Diamond.

Atwood receives the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award 2024

The Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award celebrates Andersen's influence on writers worldwide by honouring those whose genres or narrative style show traces of Andersen's rich works. Atwood visits Denmark and The Black Diamond in connection with her receiving the award.

Past recipients include Paulo Coelho, JK Rowling, Isabel Allende, Haruki Murakami and others.

The recipient is honoured with the bronze sculpture "The Ugly Duckling" by sculptor Stine Ring Hansen, a diploma and 500,000 Danish kroner.

Read more about Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award

World-renowned criticism of power

With books such as "Alias Grace", the "Oryx and Crake" series and "The Handmaid's Tale", Atwood has challenged her readers' views on power, climate, gender, racism, religious fundamentalism and much, much more.

Especially "The Handmaid's Tale", which was adapted by HBO for the popular TV series The Handmaid's Tale, ended up establishing the general validity of Atwood's works. The series and the story are seen by many as a commentary on American politics under Donald Trump, although it was originally written as a critique of Reagan-era conservatism and women's views.

For more than 60 years, Atwood has put topics from pressing societal debates on the agenda in literature – often in genres that otherwise typically live an existence in the niches. Now she can be experienced in conversation in The Black Diamond.

The event is live streamed

You can watch the event from home when it is live streamed directly from the Queen's Hall via Facebook and YouTube. It costs nothing to follow the live stream, which can also be viewed after the event has taken place.

Participants

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood debuted in 1961, and today her works have been translated into more than 30 languages. Atwood has written 18 poetry collections, 18 short stories, 11 nonfiction books, 9 short story collections, 8 children's books, 2 graphic novels and much more. She has received many awards, including the Arthur C Clarke Award, the Franz Kafka Award, the National Book Critics Lifetime Achievement Award, and she has won the Booker Prize twice.

Lotte Folke

Lotte Folke Kaarsholm is opinion editor at Politiken and former host of Deadline on DR. Before that, she was editor-in-chief at Information, where she started her path into journalism as a reviewer and cultural reporter. She is also a graduate in literature and has interviewed authors from many different countries.

DM – academic union and Magistrenes A-kasse are partners and sponsors of Students Only!

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