Margaret Atwood

She began her career as a poet and has continued to write poetry, but it was her novels — particularly *The Handmaid's Tale* — that brought her international fame. She would likely push back against the either/or perspective. Her poetry and fiction both reflect a similar sensibility: they're precise, ironic, and subtly unsettling.

'The City Planners' examines a neat suburban street and uncovers a troubling truth hidden under the facade of order. Atwood interprets the well-kept lawns and uniform homes as a form of denial—an effort by humans to push down the inevitable chaos and decay that nature and time will eventually reclaim. It's a brief poem that carries significant weight.

The poems feel tighter and more unusually captivating. With less narrative structure to grasp, the images strike with greater intensity and speed. While the novels allow you to immerse yourself in a world, the poems thrust you into one powerful moment and keep you there.

If you're looking to dive into fiction, *The Handmaid's Tale* is the clear choice — it's engaging and its themes tie directly to her poetry. For poetry, 'The City Planners' is a solid starting point: it's easy to grasp, it captures her style well, and it demonstrates her talent for turning the mundane into something unsettling.

Power and its various forms. Nature as something humanity persistently attempts, yet struggles to tame. The body, particularly the female body, as a site of conflict. Memory and its ability to warp our perceptions. She continually revisits the push and pull between the appearance of order and the chaos lying beneath it.

Not exactly, at least not when it comes to mainstream recognition. The novels grab the major awards and get adapted into films. However, for readers who closely follow her poetry, collections like *The Circle Game* and *Power Politics* are seen as truly significant contributions to Canadian literature.

She's written a lot about gender and power, playing a key role in feminist literary culture for fifty years. She's also been thoughtful about the label, noting that feminism can mean different things depending on the context. Her poetry often shows rather than argues — it immerses you in an experience and allows you to come to your own conclusions.