Canadian writer Margaret Atwood is perhaps best known for The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel that was recently adapted into a gripping TV series. This episode was filmed in 2001 and delves into, what Atwood describes as, her ‘precocious’ childhood, her early writer’s block and her desire to be a painter. She discusses how she wrote The Handmaid’s Tale quickly but that it required extensive research into totalitarianism and the suppression of women. The role of politics in her writing is analysed and Atwood expresses the responsibility and pressure that result from being known as Canada’s leading writer.