Canadian author Margaret Atwood has released a new short story that takes aim at a book ban implemented in the Canadian province of Alberta.
The satirical story’s release comes after the esteemed author’s most famous novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, was removed from some book shelves because of the province’s new rules.
In July, Alberta’s education ministry ordered school libraries to remove “materials containing explicit sexual content” by 1 October.
Ms Atwood said she wrote a short story for 17-year olds about two “very, very good children” named John and Mary, since her award-winning book was no longer suitable for some Alberta schools.
“They never picked their noses or had bowel movements or zits,” she said in the beginning of her story.
“They grew up and married each other, and produced five perfect children without ever having sex.”
She goes on to criticise Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who has been supportive of the book ban, and compares her to characters in The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian story that was turned into a star-studded TV hit.
Smith has been critical of some of the books certain school districts have removed from their shelves such as Ms Atwood’s, saying they are not in line with the sexually-explicit books the ban is trying to target.
Book bans first sprung up in the US in recent years and have since travelled north.
This is not the first time Ms Atwood has been critical of the provincial book ban. On Friday, she urged people to get copies of The Handmaid’s tale before “they have public book burnings of it”.
“Don’t read it, your hair will catch on fire!,” she added in her social media post.
While Alberta schools have until October to comply with the order, some schools have already released their lists of banned books. The Edmonton Public School Board announced last week it was removing more than 200 books from school libraries including Ms Atwood’s classic.
Other classics on the list include George Orwell’s 1984, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
Credit: BBC
