Author tells YSU crowd about her bestselling book, to debut as Hulu series Wednesday

YOUNGSTOWN

Prolific poet and feminist writer Margaret Atwood compared modern society and her novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” – about dictatorship and oppression – during the Skeggs Lecture Series Friday night.

Atwood is the author of more than 40 works of poetry, children’s literature, fiction and non-fiction.

Some of her notable works include “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Edible Woman.”

Atwood’s New York Times bestseller, “The Handmaid’s Tale,“ written in 1985, will be premiering as a Hulu original series Wednesday.

“Details in ‘The Handmaids Tale’ don’t come very far from what we see in modern society,” she said. “ ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ poses the question, ‘If America were run by a dictatorship, what kind of dictatorship would it be?’ ”

YSU Communications Department Chair and Skeggs Lecture Series board member Adam Earnheardt asked what Atwood credits the renewed popularity of the story to: “Donald Trump or Hulu?”

Atwood replied: “The two are now joined at the hip, are they not?”

Read more about her lecture in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.