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Virago is celebrating the 70th birthday of Man Booker-winner Margaret Atwood in November with a makeover of her backlist in time for publication of her new novel The Year of the Flood, which comes from Bloomsbury in September.
Eight of Atwood's novels: the 2000 Booker winner The Blind Assassin, Surfacing, The Edible Woman, Lady Oracle, Oryx and Crake, Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride and Alias Grace will be published with the new jackets in August 2009 as £7.99 paperbacks, plus Atwood's collection of poetry The Door. The rights to her novel The Handmaid's Tale belong to Vintage.
In 2010, these will be followed by short-story collections Wilderness Tips in January and Moral Disorder in May, plus short fiction Good Bones and Murder in the Dark, and poetry collection Eating Fire, in July. Three essay collections, Negotiating with the Dead, Strange Things and Curious Pursuits are due in 2011.
Atwood's editor, Virago publisher Lennie Goodings, said: "All of the titles are in print, but it was time to give them a new look. The idea was to give [the books] a modern classic look with the combination of drawings and photographs, which is something I haven't seen before. We want to appeal to a younger audience but also reawaken people who might realise there are ones they haven't read."
"The thing about backlist is that you must revisit it. Since 1979 we've re-covered her books four or five times, but the last time was about 10 years ago."
"Since 1979 we've sold three million of all her books combined. She's funny and relevant and writes about men and women's day-to-day lives but also has her eye on the bigger picture. Her writing ranges from historical fiction, such as Alias Grace, to future, or what she calls ‘speculative' fiction, such as Oryx and Crake. She's a fabulous storyteller."
Atwood's paperback output has been owned by Virago since it was bought from André Deutsch in 1979, with Liz Calder at Jonathan Cape publishing her in hardback. When Calder moved to Bloomsbury, she continued to publish Atwood's hardbacks. Virago will publish the paperback of The Year of the Flood in August 2010.