Margaret Atwood: Voice of Many Generations on Power, Access and Equality
Iconic author, poet and literary giant Margaret Atwood is keynote speaker at Take The Lead’s Power Up Conference 2026.
"Power is power," Margaret Atwood tells an audience recently at Syracuse University. "If you give some people more than others, they'll take it."
She says she is the “same type of feminist as Anita Hill— one who believes in improving process and laws.” Atwood adds, "The more gender equality there is in a society, the less abuse there is."
“Icon @MargaretAtwood: “The more gender equality there is in a society, the less abuse there is.” See her @takeleadwomen’s #PowerUp #conference 8/25. #equity #future ”
This is why Atwood, 86, who has published more than 50 books of fiction, essays, poetry and a more recent memoir, is the keynote speaker at Take The Lead’s Power Up Conference 2026 in Washington, D.C. on Women’s Equality Day. With the theme, “Audacity: Leadership in Action,” Atwood is the ideal fit.
Register here for Power Up Conference 2026 with Margaret Atwood
In the spotlight this month as the series adaptation of her 2019 novel, “The Testaments” airs on Hulu to much fanfare, Atwood reaffirms the clarity of her mission in her work and the role of women both historically and in literature and popular culture. That book won the 2019 Booker Prize. She is also the recipient of the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ahead of the series debut this week of the sequel to the globally successful “The Handmaid’s Tale,” that ran six seasons also on Hulu and Disney, there are gatherings of people dressed as Plums in Los Angeles, Austin and New York.
“@MargaretAtwood’s 2019 novel, @TestamentsHulu this week and reaffirms the clarity of her mission in her work and the role of women both historically and in literature and popular culture. #womeninhistory #gender #future ”
Read more in Take The lead on Margaret Atwood at Power Up
At these events, people dress in purple represent the young girls who in the “The Testaments” book and the series are recruited to a private school run by Aunt Lydia, with the goal of marrying them to wealthy men who see.
In the era of the silencing of women globally whom rich and powerful men groomed for sex acts in the Jeffrey Epstein network, Atwood’s work is painfully relevant, both in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “The Testaments.”
Atwood’s legacy as an author and her role as keynote speaker for the annual conference is deeply connected to Take The Lead’s “audacious mission,” says Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead.
Read more in Take The Lead on literature and leadership
Take the Lead’s mission that is embodied in programs, events, workshops, coaching, trainings, content and multi-layered resources, “is the solution to those problems, to ensure women have equal leadership positions, which includes equal power and pay. We’re changing the power paradigm so women have both the mindset and tools to embrace their phenomenal power with confidence, authenticity, and joy,” Feldt says.
“Gloria Feldt, co-founder, president @takeleadwomen: “ We’re changing the power paradigm so women have both the mindset and tools to embrace their phenomenal power with confidence, authenticity, and joy.” @genderequity”
Just as Atwood’s literary work shines a light on dystopian possible futures. Feldt says Take The Lead’s work on creating solutions, the partnership is ideal. “Together, with the courage to lead, the willingness to take action, and the audacity to break through musty old systems, we can transform not only the workplace, but the world,” Feldt says.
Yes, many of Atwood’s works are “concerned with the intricacies of women’s lived experiences: the fictions, half truths, and admissions that the world requires of any person classified as female,” Harper’s Bazaar reports.
Read more in Take The Lead on history’s reckoning
“I’m thrilled about Margaret Atwood as our keynote because she represents exactly the kind of voice Take The Lead stands for—bold, visionary, and unafraid to challenge systems that hold women back,” says Heather Florio, CEO of Desert Harvest and Take The Lead board member. “Her work has not only shaped cultural conversations around power, gender, and equity, but continues to inspire women to think critically and lead courageously.”
“I’m thrilled about @MargaretAtwood as our keynote because she represents exactly the kind of voice Take The Lead stands for—bold, visionary, and unafraid to challenge systems that hold women back,” says Heather Florio, CEO of Desert Harvest and @TakeLeadwomen board member. #PowerUp2026”
Florio continues, “On a personal level, it feels incredibly meaningful to bring someone of her caliber and influence to this community. She embodies the intersection of intellect, creativity, and advocacy that we strive to cultivate, and I know her presence will elevate the entire experience for our audience.”
Register for Power Up 2026 here
Atwood is keenly aware of the shifts in history for women’s roles in society and acknowledges that backlash and regression are common in today’s climate, a setback to decades earlier.
In a 41-year partnership with the late author Graeme Gibson, Atwood has a daughter, Eleanor Atwood Gibson. Atwood says as a working mother, she sees the trends.
She speaks of the cultural time in the U.S. and her native Canada, as a nearly mandatory decision for women between work and home, saying, “But in the ’50s and early ’60s, it was very much family or career, and that didn’t just mean writing. It meant for any woman who wanted to have a career, it was assumed that she somehow couldn’t have a family.”
Read more in Take The Lead on history through a gender lens
The new rise of the Trad Wife, or a younger woman who chooses to not work, stay home and care for the house and children, calls to mind Atwood’s prescience in 1985, when she published “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
In a review of the series adaptation of her book, “The Testaments,” Gizmodo reports that for the girls at the school, “Their most important lesson, however, is obedience. Their lives are curated down to the color of clothing they’re allowed to wear—something we saw in The Handmaid’s Tale, with the red cloaks.”
Eerie in its similarity to today’s anti-immigrant oppression and ICE efforts, “The Testaments” plotline is, “Everyone’s always watching everyone else and waiting for them to step out of line—not for nothing are the much-feared secret police dubbed ‘the Eyes,’” MediaPost reports.
Read more in Take The Lead on changing motherhood
“I’m not a clairvoyant, there is not one future. There is only one past, but many possible futures,” Take The Lead reports Atwood saying at an event for her 2025 book, Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts.
“What will happen is already happening,” Atwood told a crowd at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2025, Take the Lead reports.
“I’m not a clairvoyant, there is not one future. There is only one past, but many possible futures,” @MargaretAtwood says. #history #predictions”
In a recent interview, “The Testaments” producer Warren Littlefield says that following The Handmaid’s Tale with this new series, “The world chooses to make us relevant, and Margaret helps us bring it to life."
And while Atwood’s fans spanning more than five decades cover many generations, a new generation of readers and followers are paying homage to Atwood.
“The Testaments” star Brad Alexander who plays the character Garth, tells People that meeting author Margaret Atwood was a “bucket list” moment.
“@Testamentshulu star @BradAlexander who plays Garth @Hulu, tells @People meeting author @MargaretAtwood was a #bucketlist” moment. @literary #icon ”
After the death of her partner seven years ago, Atwood tells People she was faced with sorrow and grief and is not afraid of death. Or criticism.
Read more from Gloria Feldt on historic women figures not recognized
“Women being human beings doesn't mean that women are perfect. It means that women are human,” Atwood tells WBUR.
“Women being human beings doesn’t mean that #women are perfect. It means that women are human,” @MargaretAtwood tells @WBUR. ”
When asked how she creates work with such outlandish plots and characters, Atwood says everything she writes about has happened in history or is happening today. She tells WBUR, “It is not I who comes up with this weird s**t. It is the human race."
Winner of the 2025 Eleanor Roosevelt Lifetime Achievement Award and the Joan Margarit International Poetry Prize, Atwood muses in ElPais, “Now I’m the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz. Older women are only allowed to be two things: wise old women or wicked old witches. Sometimes, both at once.”
She adds, “All movements throughout history have had internal power struggles, from Christianity to the Bolsheviks. Feminism is no different. It has had its ups and downs ever since the French Revolution chose the slogan “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” … and not sorority.”
