In all the various excitements, I neglected to mention that I had dinner with Margaret Atwood and her husband (and several 19-year-olds) on Saturday night. Despite the noise in the restaurant we managed to talk at some length about Margaret Laurence, Janet Frame, and even for a minute or two about the importance of clothes.
Tuesday 26 August 2008
In which Margaret Atwood and I speak of many things
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9 comments:
That must have been quite a dinner. My nearest brush with the Atwood phenomenon is that people quite often tell me I look like her, primarily, I suspect, on the basis of my curls (and I teach Canlit, so there's a feeble connection). I once mentioned this to a pre-eminent Canadian poet, Dennis Lee, who knows Atwood well, and he said, matter-of-factly and not quite dismissively "Oh, no, you don't look at all like Peggy!" -- leaving me, I was surprised to find, just a tiny bit letdown;-)
I'd have thought I'd died and gone to heaven to find myself talking to Margaret Atwood about Margaret Laurence!
With my grasp of modern literature, I'd have just been happy to have sat next to her...breathing in her carbon dioxide would have been enough for me.
Linda, can you elaborate on the discussion about Janet Frame (without betraying confidences of course)?
I met Janet at her house a couple of years before she died. I was describing that meeting and the odd flirtation-by-note with Philip Roth at Yado in the 60s.
Love Laurence, Frame, and, of course, Atwood. Sounds like a delightful evening.
I've read most of Frame's work (the early stuff such as Owls Do Cry fairly disturbing for a teenager, back then). Your meeting with her a rare event, I think, as she was famously reclusive. Lucky you.
Linda, can you elaborate on some of the points made about the importance of clothes?
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