UPDATE 05/15/2020 – EVENT POSTPONED:
Due to concerns about the ongoing threat of COVID-19, the Margaret Atwood author event originally scheduled for September 13, 2020, has been POSTPONED. No exact date has been confirmed, but the presenting libraries are working to reschedule this event in fall 2021. More information will be shared about the rescheduled event as it becomes available.

The Grandview Heights Public Library, in partnership with 8 other Central Ohio libraries, will host “A Conversation with Margaret Atwood” on Sunday, September 13, 2020, at 2 pm, at the Palace Theatre (34 W. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215).

PRESENTING CENTRAL OHIO LIBRARIES

• Bexley Public Library
• Columbus Metropolitan Library
• Grandview Heights Public Library
• London Public Library
• Plain City Public Library
• Southwest Public Libraries
• Upper Arlington Public Library
• Westerville Public Library
• Worthington Libraries

ABOUT THE EVENT

• Tickets go on sale via CAPA on Monday, June 15, 2020, at 10 am.
• Ticket prices begin at $25 (plus fees).
• All ticket sales are handled through CAPA: online at capa.com, by phone at 614-469-0939, and in-person at the CBUSArts Ticket Center at 39 E. State St. Columbus, OH 43215.
• Libraries are not a point-of-sale location.
• The Palace Theatre seats 2,695. All guests must have a ticket to enter.  No advanced sales will be made available to library patrons or library staff.
• WOSU Public Media’s Ann Fisher (All Sides with Ann Fisher) will lead a conversation with the author with the opportunity for audience members to submit questions.
• Book signing with the author to follow, with the opportunity to purchase books from Gramercy Books.

ABOUT MARGARET ATWOOD

• Margaret Atwood has long been a literary titan. With her 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale adapted into an 11-time Emmy Award-winning television series, and its sequel, The Testaments, winning the 2019 Booker Prize, Atwood’s sharp eye is more crucial—and prescient—than ever.
• Atwood’s newest novel and sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments, has performed so well, it broke the record for best first-day sales of any Penguin Random House title in 2019. Having initially gone to press on the novel for 500,000 copies, the publisher has gone back twice already for more copies of The Testaments—in just over a week.
• And with her work already producing two blockbuster television adaptations—first The Handmaid’s Tale, then Alias Grace—Atwood’s vision is reaching a wider audience than ever before. The Handmaid’s Tale received 13 Emmy nominations and eight awards—including for Best Drama. Atwood herself received a standing ovation at the awards ceremony. Alias Grace, now streaming on Netflix, is based on Atwood’s Giller-winning, Booker-shortlisted murder mystery, and is notable for being written, produced, and directed by women.
• Atwood is the winner of many international literary awards, including the prestigious Booker Prize, Arthur C. Clarke Award, Governor General’s Award, the PEN Pinter Prize, the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. In October 2019, she was presented with the Companion of Honor award—given for achievements in the arts, literature, science and politics—by Queen Elizabeth, making Atwood only the third Canadian to receive the honor.
• She is the author of more than 50 volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction. Atwood is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman, The Robber Bride, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake, and The Year of the Flood. Her non-fiction book Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, part of the Massey Lecture series, was made into a documentary. The Oryx and Crake trilogy is being adapted into an HBO TV series by celebrated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky.
• Her work has been published in more than 40 languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. She co-invented the LongPen, a remote signing device that allows someone to write in ink anywhere in the world via tablet PC and the internet. She is a founder of the Writers’ Trust of Canada and a founding trustee of the Griffin Poetry Prize.
• She is also a popular personality on Twitter, with more than one million followers.

ABOUT THIS CENTRAL OHIO LIBRARY COLLABORATION

• This library collaboration allows libraries to host large, impactful events in Central Ohio collectively by sharing costs, resources, and expertise.
• In addition to resource sharing and encouraging partnership on various community-wide initiatives, these collective events enhance and further engage a community of readers and raise the visibility of libraries throughout Central Ohio.
• This collaboration hosted travel author and TV host Rick Steves at the Southern Theatre in December 2019; the event sold out within hours of going on sale.

The program is part of the Ohio Governor’s initiative to promote early childhood literacy and kindergarten readiness across Ohio. 

Dolly’s program began in 1995 and is now an international program. Ohio’s first counties came on board in 2005. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s goal is to have all 88 counties participating by Spring 2020.

Enroll your child at ohioimaginationlibrary.com/enroll.