My good friend Lydia and I went to see the amazing Margaret Atwood last week.

Margaret Atwood reading from Hag Seed. (Apologies for the terrible quality of this photo. It was taken on my phone and we were up in the stalls!)

She talked about her recent novel Hag Seed, which is based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Lydia and I celebrated (writers celebrate EVERYTHING!) with these:

So, although I did make some notes, they are largely jibberish and a shorthand of a different time and place. But I did come away with some quotes:

Margaret’s favourite book is A Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy

‘It is impossible to write a novel that isn’t a social commentary.’

‘Novels allow a reader to imagine they’re someone else. They foster empathy.’