The Handmaid Tale author Margaret Atwood did not mince words over a proposed book ban in Alberta that would effectively remove over 200 books from public schools. According to the CBC, the ban, which took effect on Sept. 2 just as Edmonton Public School students were returning to classrooms, was temporarily paused on Tuesday.
Atwood’s novel that served as inspiration for Hulu’s hit series was named on the list of books to be banned, in addition to classics such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and George Orwell’s 1984. Other banned titles include works by authors such as George R. R. Martin, Stephen King, Judy Blume, and Maya Angelou.
The ban targets “explicit sexual content” for students from kindergarten to grade 12, though students grades 10 and up will still have access to non-explicit sexual content, which refers to a “depiction of a sexual act that is not detailed or clear.”
On Sunday, ahead of the ban, Atwood took to social media to lambast Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides with a new “piece of literature” ridiculing the measure. Atwood quipped that the piece should be “suitable for 17-year-olds in Alberta schools,” unlike her seminal novel.
“John and Mary were both very, very good children. They never picked their noses or had bowel movements or zits,” the 85-year-old author wrote on X. “They grew up and married each other, and produced five perfect children without ever having sex.”
Atwood continued, noting that although the couple claimed to be Christian, they did not follow the teachings of Jesus and instead practiced “selfish rapacious capitalism.”
“So they lived happily ever after. But while they were doing that, The Handmaid’s Tale came true and Danielle Smith found herself with a nice new blue dress but no job,” Atwood concluded, referring to the Alberta provincial premier whose government had ordered the ban. “The end.”
After the pause on the ban went into effect on Tuesday, Smith claimed that the rules were being revised and said that the list would not target classic novels.
“It’ll be paused for a couple of hours while the ministerial order is rewritten,” Smith said, per the CBC. The direction will be to take books with pornographic images out of the libraries and to leave the classics alone. I think that there was some misunderstanding of the order, so it’s being made clear.” She added, “We are hoping that the school boards understand what we’re trying to achieve.”
Amid the confusion on Tuesday, Atwood likewise expressed her feeling in a brief statement to the New York Times. “Kindergarten students should not be reading it—no contest!” she reasoned. “But they weren’t anyway. But 17 year olds?”
Edmonton Public Schools is the second largest school board in Alberta. On Monday, the conservative province also instituted an order banning transgender athletes from competing in amateur female sports divisions.
