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EDMONTON — Margaret Atwood is taking aim at Alberta’s controversial ban on school library books containing sexual content with a new, satirical short story after the famed author’s novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” was yanked from some shelves due to the province’s sweeping new rules.
In a social media post on Sunday, Atwood said since the literary classic is no longer suitable in Alberta’s schools, she has written a short story for 17-year-olds about two “very, very good children” named John and Mary.
“They never picked their noses or had bowel movements or zits,” she said at the beginning of her story.
“They grew up and married each other, and produced five perfect children without ever having sex.”
Atwood said the pair paid no attention to the poor and “forgiving your enemies and such; instead, they practised selfish rapacious capitalism.”
Atwood goes on to say that the couple never die because “who wants to dwell on, you know, death and corpses and yuk? So they lived happily ever after.
“But while they were doing that ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ came true and (Premier) Danielle Smith found herself with a nice new blue dress but no job,” she said, referring to the high-ranking wives of commanders in her book who wore blue while the handmaids, in red garments, were subjected to produce children for elite couples in a totalitarian and theocratic state.
“The end.”
Last week, the Edmonton Public School Board, one of Alberta’s largest, announced it was yanking more than 200 books from its schools this year to comply with a July order by Alberta’s education ministry to remove books from school libraries that carry “materials containing explicit sexual content” by Oct. 1.
The board’s list of books it was removing gave the first glimpse of the effects of Alberta’s book ban in schools.
The list also included Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World,” and books by authors like Alice Munro and Ayn Rand.
On Friday, Smith said Edmonton’s public school board had gone over the top in complying with the ban and the division’s list is a form of “vicious compliance.”
She also showed excerpts from graphic novels during a news conference — including “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe — that prompted the new rules in the first place for the explicit illustrations of sexual acts they contain.
Public School Board chair Julie Kusiek, in a statement, said the list meets the criteria set out by the government and anyone unhappy with it should contact Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides.
Other school divisions are expected to come up with lists in the coming days.
Smith has suggested Alberta’s education ministry could form a working group to work with school boards and go through books to discuss if the content is appropriate.
Atwood, Smith and Alberta’s education ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Atwood’s short story on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2025.
— With files from Jack Farrell.
The Canadian Press
