9 INTRODUCTION
Introduction: Atwood at 80
When Margaret Atwood celebrated her 80th birthday in November 2019, there was a feeling 
that the occasion called for a burst of applause – figuratively speaking. Around Europe, many 
Canadian scholars and Canadian Studies Associations responded with a range of activities. 
Slovenia contributed handsomely: first, with an event at the Univerzitetna knjižnica Maribor 
– Fourscore and More: Margaret Atwood at Eighty – and second, with this special issue dedicated 
to Atwood’s recent work. 
With a tight deadline for submissions, we were lucky to have the cooperation of a conference: 
Margaret Atwood 80: Central European Interpretations / Margaret Atwood 80: interprétations 
de l’œvre en Europe Centrale, which was jointly sponsored by Károli Gáspár University of 
The Reformed Church In Hungary, Pázmány Péter Catholic University and Eötvös Loránd 
University. The organisers graciously included ELOPE’s Call for Papers in their programme, 
and several of the papers published here originated from that initiative. 
Atwood herself found the time to help open the conference (virtually) with a few words – 
“Wait a minute! 80? What happened? Just the other day I was 77! Where did the time go?” 
– and some illustrations of her “Writing Burrow,” as well as of illustrations depicting her need 
to turn down some invitations and requests for interviews. 
Originally, the editors envisioned a concentration on Atwood’s 21st-century works; however, 
this worthy objective gave way under the cultural dominance of The Handmaid’s Tale, 
Atwood’s 1985 novel. Given the recent appearance of its sequel, The T estaments (2019), the 
pair of novels inevitably garnered considerable critical attention (not to mention a Booker 
Prize for the latter).
Contributors to this issue range from young scholars at the beginning of their careers, to 
experienced scholars who have devoted much of their careers to Atwood. Both voices are 
welcome and show the long-lasting relevance of Atwood’s oeuvre.
Coral Ann Howells’ overview of the later Atwood reminds us that Atwood continues to 
reinvent herself as a writer. Her literary output in recent decades has been wide-ranging, and 
the articles collected here bear witness to this range, even if Atwood the poet, Atwood the 
non-fiction writer, Atwood the children’s author, and Atwood the comic book author are not 
present.
Though some of the articles collected here focus on the red-clad handmaids and the world of 
Gilead, others look to perhaps lesser-known Atwood creations. In addition to a postcolonial 
approach to Atwood’s Cat’s Eye, there is a consideration of Atwood as a postmodern 
myth-rewriter in The Penelopiad, Atwood as the creator of MaddAddam’s post-apocalyptic 
world, along with a paper highlighting the challenges of translating Atwood’s deceptively 
straightforward prose, and, finally, an examination of Atwood the illustrator.

11 INTRODUCTION
The editors wish to thank all those whose silent contributions made this special issue possible: 
the translators – Tjaša Mohar, Tina Ritlop, Tadeja Tement, Tadej Todorović and Simon 
Zupan – and the journal editors – Andrej Stopar and Mojca Krevel. 
Michelle Gadpaille, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Jason Blake, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Guest Editors of ELOPE Vol. 17, No. 1 (2020)