On April 6, 2023, 700 people packed the Pierce Theater and were enraptured by the literary powerhouse that is Margaret Atwood. ACG was thrilled to welcome the two-time Booker Prize-winning writer of more than 50 books of fiction, poetry and critical essays as the featured and inaugural speaker of the S. Sue Horner Lectureship Series in Gender Studies and Religion.
ACG President, David G. Horner, opened the event by sharing with the audience a video of Dr. S. Sue Horner, his wife of 51 years. The lectureship series, named in memory of our beloved “Dr. Sue,” will provide a platform for thoughtful and provocative discussions that explore the best ideas on issues in gender studies and religion. Issues of gender and religion were the intellectual and spiritual passion of S. Sue Horner, themes that Margaret Atwood has touched upon in her writings. Dr. Horner commented that ACG’s history is deeply rooted in the salient intersection between gender and religion, and 2023 marks 100 years of the college’s operations in Greece.
Margaret Atwood then took the stage for a thought-provoking discussion with Haris Vlavianos, award-winning poet, Professor of History at Deree, and event moderator. They two touched upon topics ranging from Greek mythology and folktale motifs to foundations of political systems, to Shakespeare, to cancel culture. They also discussed Margaret’s groundbreaking future dystopia, The Handmaid’s Tale, which remains a literary centerpiece in the wake of recent political dissent. The infamous red and white costume has been donned by women from Brazil to Israel as an emerging symbol of feminist protest.
When asked about her process of writing, the brilliant Margaret Atwood eloquently remarked:
Writing is an act of optimism. You have hope at the beginning of writing that it [the work] will be finished, hope that it will be published, hope that people will read it, hope that they will like it.
