🎟️ Event Review:
📍 Quick Facts
- Event Type: Musical Theatre / Live Performance
- Location: Max Bell Theatre, Werklund Centre, 205 8 Avenue SE, Calgary
- Duration: Approx. 2 hours, including intermission
- Ticket Info: Tickets required
I absolutely lucked into a set of tickets for this event.
We were out in Millarville for a Christmas fair. I remember very distinctly because there is next to no telephone signal in that area, and then my phone dinged. I was not expecting it.
I had seen the resale for these tickets earlier, and knew they wouldn’t last long. I mean, Margaret Atwood is a Canadian legend, and the show had sold out really fast. I requested the tickets and then forgot about it, suspecting I would be in a long list of ‘yes pleases’.
That little song told me the tickets were mine if I still wanted them. Fifth-row seats at the original selling price to boot? It had to be too good to be true.
The issue came when I tried to reply. That portal where the message had come through had seemingly disappeared, and I was at least half an hour away from a decent set of bars.
I did a quick reply, sent up a prayer to the cell phone gods and carried on about my day.
Long story short, my message did indeed reach the seller and the tickets were mine.
Margaret Atwood’s Calgary appearance was part of her tour in celebration of her long-awaited memoir, Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts, and also served as the grand finale of Wordfest’s 30th Anniversary year.
Although there was no book signing at this event, Wordfest and Owl’s Nest Books transformed the lobby into a true paradise for book lovers. Fans eagerly scooped up copies of the memoir, custom Human-Focused Mission buttons, and limited-edition Wordfest 30th Anniversary tote bags.
Something felt special about Margaret Atwood returning to Calgary for the grand finale of Wordfest’s 30th Anniversary year. Thirty years after lending her star power to the very first Wordfest back in 1996, Atwood was back — and she received a thunderous standing ovation from a sold-out crowd of readers.
For anyone who is a book geek like I am, there is no bigger royalty in the Canadian literary world than Margaret Atwood.
The 75-minute, no-intermission event was less of a rigid promotional lecture and more of an evening of wit, charm, and storytelling.
The evening was moderated by fellow Canadian novelist Heather O’Neill. O’Neill’s whimsical interviewing style seemed at times to stumble under Atwood’s signature dry, deadpan humour.
Atwood seemed to take the reins, culminating in a delightfully bizarre moment when she literally read O’Neill’s palms right on stage, sending the entire audience into fits of laughter.
What a firecracker of a person she is! An internationally acclaimed Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and activist, Atwood is the author of more than 50 books. She’s as sharp as a tack, witty, and very entertaining. She is a Canadian icon.
Atwood joked about the agonizing process of looking backward, noting, ‘I sweated blood over this book—there was too much life to stuff in.’
She candidly shared that human memory has a way of holding on to ‘catastrophes, revenges, and times of political horror’, but she also wanted her memoir to capture the joy, ridiculous anecdotes, and books that shaped her life.
Hearing her recount how she decided to become a writer at the age of 16 felt like getting a glimpse behind the literary legend. Somehow, she managed to make that enormous, larger-than-life reputation feel completely human.
Ultimately, the night was a brilliant reminder of just what makes Margaret Atwood such a remarkable storyteller. She left Calgary having given us a glimpse not only of the writer we all know, but of the wonderfully witty and very human woman behind the books.
Long before there was ever a television series, Atwood penned The Handmaid’s Tale and also gave us the quote that stopped many in their tracks: ‘Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.’ Sitting there in Calgary, listening to her sharp wit and wonderfully dry humour decades after that book was published, I was reminded just how powerful her words still are.
I even walked away with a commemorative ‘I Saw Margaret Atwood at Wordfest’ sticker that’s firmly attached to my laptop.
For many, this was a night out on the town to hear an author talk. For me—the little girl from Newfoundland who grew up devouring books, the young woman who worked in bookstores for years and drank in Canadian literature, and the adult who watched every episode of The Handmaid’s Tale—all three versions of me were sitting in that audience that night. This was a pure literary dream come true.
What a delightful evening.
📊 Scorecard
- Organization and Flow: 5/5
- Engagement & Content: 4/5
- Location & Venue Comfort: 4/5
- Value for Money: 5/5
- ⭐ Overall Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Notes for improvement: The interview felt a little surface-level, and I would have liked more depth in the questions.
