''Now Is Not The Time For Realistic Fiction,'' Says Margaret Atwood on NPR radio segment with Lynn Neary

Margaret Atwood says she'll try anything once. That spirit of adventure — coupled with her curiosity about the intersection of storytelling and new technology — led her to write a serialized book for the digital publisher Byliner. That book, The Heart Goes Last, is out now in a print edition.


Is it a satire? Is it a parody? Dystopian fiction comes close, though Atwood says wryly, "any fiction that shows a society which is worse than your own is dystopian." In truth, she adds, "I think I'm just writing reality as it is unfolding."

 

                       

For her part, Atwood says this is not the time for realistic fiction — and it's no coincidence that dystopia and fantasy are on the rise now. "I think they're coming out of people's feeling that things are going haywire, and you cannot depend on a stable background for 'realistic fiction.' And when there's perceived instability that's happening you can't write that kind of novel and have people believe it."

 

At 57, Margaret Atwood is still plunging ahead fearlessly into terrain that few younger writers male or female would dare to enter. "Writing is just fun for me." she says — and at this point in her life, it's obvious she believes that literary risks are well worth taking.

http://www.npr.org/2015/09/30/444775853/now-is-not-the-time-for-realistic-fiction-says-margaret-atwood