Margaret Atwood on her new collection Old Babes in the Wood and the ongoing relevance of The Handmaid's Tale

"In Canada in the 60s … nobody made a living out of writing," Atwood told ABC Radio Melbourne in 2020. (Getty Images: Monika Skolimowska/picture alliance)

In 2019, famed Canadian author Margaret Atwood lost her partner of 48 years, fellow novelist Graeme Gibson, to dementia.

Gibson was diagnosed with the condition in 2012. His death was not unexpected – but it was a devastating loss for Atwood, a two-time Booker Prize winner and the author of more than 50 books.