Even if she is credited with the gift of having predicted 30 years in advance the election of Donald Trump and its consequences on American women in her dystopian novel The Scarlet Maidthe Canadian writer Margaret Atwood does not believe that our collective future is already mapped out.
• Read also: Last day of the Book Fair: Margaret Atwood meets the public
“The future does not exist”, she felt the need to recall this afternoon, during an interview in front of the public with the novelist Marie Laberge, at the Capitole Theater in Quebec.
Last of six writers to participate in the series of literary meetings Auteur.e Studio at the Salon international du livre de Québec (SILQ), after Marc Levy, Amélie Nothomb, Janette Bertrand, Patrick Senécal and Nancy Huston, the 83-year-old Canadian author prefer to see the future with hope.
“Many futures are possible. As writers, we can explore one or two of these futures, but nothing is set in stone. »
Profitable election
Speaking in French, Mr.me Atwood said a Hollywood producer told her she was the only person who benefited from the election of Donald Trump in 2016.
He was right, she said. She notes that the TV series adaptation of The Scarlet Maid, put on the air in 2017, took advantage of the arrival of Trump in power and the protest movements of American women.
“If Hillary Clinton had been elected, it would have been perceived as a fantasy, something that has already been done”, weighs Margaret Atwood.
74,000 visitors
The visit of M.me Atwood concluded on a high note a 2023 Book Fair that its general manager, Daniel Gélinas, described as spectacular. Over the past five days, 74,000 people have visited the kiosks of corded publishing houses at the Center des congrès de Québec. That’s 4,000 more than in 2022.
“There is an attachment to the book that fascinates me. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 17,000 schoolchildren passed and they were buying books. Despite tablets, telephones and digital books, the object of the book remains popular,” rejoices Mr. Gélinas.
The organizers also say they are satisfied with the attendance of Auteur.e Studio, of which 15% of the spectators came from outside the Quebec region.
“We are becoming a destination,” notes the chair of the show’s board of directors, Rhonda Rioux.
