TORONTO — Margaret Atwood’s next book will be an autobiography.

Her Canadian publisher McClelland & Stewart says it will peel back the curtain on Atwood’s writing and “the sparkling inner workings” of her imagination.

“Book of Lives: A Memoir Of Sorts” is due for release Nov. 4.

Atwood says she “sweated blood over this book” and that “there was too much life to stuff in.”

McClelland & Stewart says the memoir covers seminal moments in the literary giant’s past, including encounters with “poets, bears, Hollywood actors,” major political turning points, and “her magical life” with the late writer Graeme Gibson.

Margaret Atwood memoir to explore seminal moments, inspiration behind famous books | iNFOnews.ca — Cover art for renowned Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s new nonfiction title, “Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts,” is shown in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Penguin Random House, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Atwood’s novels include “Cat’s Eye,” “The Robber Bride,” and “Alias Grace.” Her 1985 novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” was followed in 2019 by the sequel, “The Testaments,” which won a Booker Prize.

“A memoir is what you can remember, and you remember mostly stupid things, catastrophes, revenges, and times of political horror, so I put those in,” Atwood said in a release Tuesday.

“But I also added moments of joy, and surprising events and, of course, the books.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2025.