Margaret Atwood on her love of birds
Novelist and poet Margaret Atwood shares her love and passion for birds with us.
While Margaret Atwood is known for her vast array of poetry books and novels, including the now-adapted-for-TV 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, you may not be aware that she is a passionate advocate for birds.
As Margaret explains:
Thanks to my forest entomologist father, who was an experienced field worker and dedicated conservationist, I grew up with birds, as well as a knowledge of what a species needs to survive. We are not apart from nature, we are a part of it. If the biosphere fails, so do we.
The award-winning author is a long-term champion of our work. She supported our local Partner BirdLife Australia’s campaign to boost protection for the Critically Endangered Swift Parrot, joining them on a trip to Tasmania’s Bruny Island to search for these colourful birds a few years ago. These eye-catching parrots are losing key habitats due to the logging taking place in Tasmania, a threat that remains true to this day.
This was far from Margaret’s first foray into bird conservation, though. Indeed, she had long before shared a passion for birds with her late husband, Graeme Gibson. As former joint presidents of our Rare Bird Club, Graeme and Margaret played a crucial role in championing BirdLife at home in Canada, throughout the Americas, and globally.
Graeme’s love for birds inspired an exciting initiative, the Graeme Gibson Fellowship, that provides talented up-and-coming leaders in the world of biodiversity conservation the chance to hone their skills and expertise. Sponsored by Adventure Canada, the programme takes seven months to complete and is organised around three fundamental elements of leadership: self-leadership, leading others, and systems-leadership.
We are incredibly grateful for Margaret’s support throughout the years and were thrilled to organise a special event with her in New York City on the 17th of December to celebrate her love of birds.
Taking place in the Lotos Club, the evening gathering included a fireside chat with Margaret herself, followed by a Q&A and a book signing fundraiser. Margaret read from her newly released book, Paper Boat – New & Selected Poems 1961-2023 and went on to sign copies for attendees.
The evening raised much-needed funds for two organisations close to Margaret’s heart: BirdLife International and the Pelee Island Bird Observatory. Some of the incredible items auctioned during the event included a dinner for 10 with Margaret in her Toronto home, a chance for a lucky winner to have her feedback on their novel manuscript, and many more exciting prizes.
