so, margaret atwood

and her reading today in aberdeen was kind of an early birthday present for me. atwood hasn't been an interest myself and t have shared (true, i may have read a poem or two but it's also true she may have been sleeping) but there was no way i was going on my own so it was an early rise for both of us and off up the road. t is always an excellent foil for any brittleness i might show (amy prettiness aberdeen may have has always avoided me) and coupled with the only time i've actually seen the sun shine in aberdeen, soon got me into the vibe of the university.

the atwood gig was packed. i don't think i've ever been to a reading where there were so many people, probably a lot to do with me working weekends, but all the same.. we'd been at the bookselling place and i kind of had an inkling of what was coming when i saw there was no poetry on sale which, inevitably lead to the usual banter about not reading atwood's novels. so, novels it was, with a bit from oryx and crake, alias grace and the year of the flood.

all of which was fine and good but there was still the business of seeing someone in the flesh who i've spent more than a bit of time with in print. we were both taken by the fact she arrived on stage with her bag and then another shopping bag with her books in it. she was just as she looks in the pictures, maybe a wee bit smaller but very spry. her voice sounded not appreciably different than it does in the recordings, she definitely had a presence and i had a sense that when she wanted to be she could be more than a tad spiky and proper full on. but what was surprising was how funny she was. quite why i hadn't expected that i don't know but she was and that was that. she also showed a hitherto unsuspected appreciation of the conan books, then a tale about superhero bunnies and finished it all off with a song. i looked at t and saw the same expression she had when she had seen kenneth white for the first time. winner. wouldn't it be great she said, if margaret atwood was your auntie. it would i agreed, be fine.

off to the signing where we drank coffee and waited for the end of the line which took a good hour. me, all i wanted was for her to sign my copy of entering fire. we didn't talk beyond a brief expression of surprise a poetry book had showed its face. kind of like the seamus heaney experience i was more interested than listening than asking. not so for t who was loving the notion of humans who can purr form oryx and crake and immediately fell into conversation with her about some weird bunny/cat purring hybrid and then got a cartoon drawn for her on her book. i thought margaret atwood was looking a bit weary by the time we got to her and i was impressed by that level of engagement and genuine laughter.

after that (and really what we should've done was ask her along) we sloped off to fowlsheugh to look at kittiwakes by the thousand - i'd post a picture but really it's just more cliffs with birds. but a brilliant place all the same and a truly excellent hide just being completed. had we had more time i'd have read some atwood right in there at the top of the cliff. maybe next time.

i'm fortunate these days in knowing more than one person in his/her seventies who's willing to talk about all manner of things with me. maybe i should ask more questions but in the main i'm happy enough to listen. i should've noted that atwood was off around the islands soon and maybe thought of something she should see (like my book!! lol) but i guess she'll have loads of people to do that. or i could've said that if she really wanted to see an osprey while she was here i could sort that right out. but really none of that. what i would say now is something about t's cartoon cat.

so have a good trip margaret atwood. it was good to finally see you. purrs and thank you for the cat.