Margaret Eleanor Atwood is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honored authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the very first Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction, and the Prince of Asturias award for Literature. She has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times (one win), and has been a finalist for the Governor General's Award seven times (two wins).
The Handmaid's Tale received the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987. The award is given for the best science fiction novel that was first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It was also nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, and the 1987 Prometheus Award, both science fiction awards.
The book is a classic in feminist studies in academic circles. Atwood herself has often argued that her work is neither feminist nor science fiction. She calls it speculative fiction. Yet the majority of award nominations for The Handmaid's Tale continue to be in the science fiction genre.
Similar to the Russian naming conventions seen in Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy, a name can denote ownership or property rights. The narrator of the story is the maid Offred -- literally meaning "of Fred," the man she serves.
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