Author Margaret Atwood lectures Friday, April 21 at Stambaugh

Margaret Atwood, winner of many international literary awards and author of more than 40 books of fiction, poetry and critical essays, presents Youngstown State University’s Skeggs Lecture Series 7 p.m. Friday, April 21, in Stambaugh Auditorium.

The presentation is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets are available at the Stambaugh box office or online at www.stambaughauditorium.com.

Atwood’s latest book of short stories is Stone Mattress: Nine Tales. Her MaddAddam trilogy – the Giller and Booker prize-nominated Oryx and Crake (2003), The Year of the Flood (2009), and MaddAddam (2013) – is currently being adapted for HBO. The Door is her latest volume of poetry (2007). Her novels include The Blind Assassin, winner of the Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; and The Robber Bride, Cat’s Eye, The Handmaid’s Tale – coming soon as a TV series with MGM and Hulu – and The Penelopiad.

Atwood is the founder of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, a founding trustee of the Griffin Poetry Prize and her work has been published in more than 40 languages. A popular personality on Twitter with over a million followers, Atwood lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.

The Skeggs Lecture was established in 1966 in memory of the late Leonard T. Skeggs Sr. Skeggs came to Youngstown in 1919 as educational secretary of the YMCA. In 1924, he became general secretary, a position held until his death in 1933. It was Skeggs who prompted Howard W. Jones to become the first president of the university.