Margaret Atwood Takes Satirical Shot at Controversial Alberta School Book Ban

The Handmaid’s Tale writer Margaret Atwood has published a satirical short story aimed at a controversial school library ban on books with “explicit sexual content” in Alberta, including LGBTQ+ titles.  

In a social media post on X, Atwood noted her classic novel, which was adapted into a popular Hulu drama, had landed on the school book ban list in the western Canadian province. “Sorry, kids; your Minister of Education thinks you are stupid babies,” she commented.

Atwood then introduced her short story characters, John and Mary, who “never picked their noses or had bowel movements or zits.” Her story adds: “They grew up and married each other, and produced five perfect children without ever having sex.”

And while claiming to be Christian, Atwood wrote John and Mary didn’t follow what Jesus Christ said about “the poor and the Good Samaritan and forgiving your enemies and such.” Instead, the novelist continued, the couple “practice selfish rapacious capitalism, because they worshipped Ayn Rand.”

The short story concludes with a reference to Alberta premier Danielle Smith, who after ordering the removal of controversial books from school libraries with a ministerial order, on Tuesday ordered a “pause” to the book ban to introduce new rules.

“So they (John and Mary) 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. The end,” Atwood wrote.

Other books subject to the earlier book ban in Edmonton public schools include Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which was adapted into a feature film.