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Margaret Atwood takes on zombies
Published: 10/26/2012 3:51 PM
Last Modified: 10/26/2012 3:51 PM

The Canadian writer Margaret Atwood – who will be the subject of the next Tulsa Reads program in early 2013 – is currently engaged in a literary activity that some might think as a bit unusual for a past winner of the Man Booker Prize.

She’s writing a novel about zombies.

Atwood is collaborating with British author Naomi Alderman on “The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home.” New chapters of the book will be published each Wednesday Wattpad, an online literary community website.

The novel – a comic horror tale about a New York teenager who must deal with the zombie apocalypse after her mom turns into a zombie and eats her dad – is expected to be finished by January 2013.

Adlerman and Atwood come together as a result of a program called the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, which pairs established and rising artists to create a work over the course of a year.

In a piece published on the website for the English newspaper The Guardian, Atwood said, “it's a good fit; and the meaning of the zombie obsession intrigues us both. Naomi has written about it in Granta, I recently made a speech about it at Princeton University. Don't dismiss the zombies: they have Deeper Meaning. They just don't know it.”

Atwood has employed aspects of such genres as science fiction, dystopia fiction and thriller in her novels, which include “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Blind Assassin,” “Bodily Harm” and “Oryx and Crake.”

The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home can be read at tulsaworld.com/happyzombie.

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James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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Past Articles By James D. Watts Jr

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2/10/2013		LBJ chronicler Robert Caro to speak at TU on Tuesday
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