Kate Santini ‘27
News Editor
On Tuesday April 21, the College was proud to welcome 58th annual Hanify-Howland Memorial Lecturer, Margaret Atwood, to campus. At eighty-six years old, Atwood has published over fifty literary works ranging from novels, poetry collections, and critical essays. A prolific writer since her youth, she is perhaps best known for her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, which was originally published in 1985 and later adapted into an award-winning Hulu series beginning in 2017. With six seasons and a sequel based on Atwood’s The Testaments (2019), the television series has been wildly successful. Ann Dowd, who plays Aunt Lydia in the series and is a proud Holy Cross alum from the class of 1978, joined Atwood on stage to answer student-submitted questions.
Established in 1965, the student-led Hanify-Howland Memorial Lecture Committee annually elects individuals distinguished in the realm of public service to speak on campus. Originally erected by Weston Howland in honor of prominent jurist and close friend, Edward F. Hanify from the class of 1904, the lecture is a cherished and longstanding tradition at Holy Cross. In his introductory remarks, College president, Vincent Rogeau, shared that it is “one of his favorite nights” of the academic year. Atwood’s presence brought so many students, faculty members, and visitors to Hogan Ballroom that four overflow rooms were needed to accommodate them.
Prior to the lecture, Atwood held a seminar where a select group of students, mainly consisting of Hanify-Howland Lecture Committee members, could ask her questions in an intimate setting. The Spire’s very own, Ashwin Prabaharan ‘26, began the session by asking Atwood her thoughts on artificial intelligence and the degree to which she feels it threatens modern writers. Responding that AI is a “crappy writer,” Atwood compared it to the machines writing for civilians in George Orwell’s dystopia, 1984. She then relayed her inquisitive encounter with the AI platform, Claude, explaining how it could not even tell her where its name came from.
Atwood also touched upon the meaning of art. She explained that intentional–and unintentional–propaganda stems back to the classical Greeks and that every piece of art “has a good and bad side” along with “a stupid side you did not anticipate,” meaning that art tends to create ripple effects that surpass its creator’s expectations. One of the final questions she answered in the seminar pertained to how she builds “character voices.” She shared her process of “double-checking” her research by going straight to the source. She recalled a time in which her main character was “a young male with commitment issues” and in order to ensure the accuracy of the character’s portrayal, she went to a friend befitting that description.
In the main lecture taking place at the Hogan Ballroom, she reiterated that her strategy is to “write first, research later.” According to Atwood, character-building is an intuitive part of the writing process and is comparable to downhill skiing. In a downhill ski race, one does not stop to “think about how they are doing it” but must simply do. In a rapid-fire session of questions led by Hanify-Howland Lecture Committee co-chairs, Keara Papa ‘26 and Evan Garcia ‘26, Atwood jokingly claimed she would not get coffee with any of her characters given that she already knows them inside and out. She unapologetically deemed the question of who she would get coffee with “unanswerable.”
Atwood’s witty answers were met with frequent bouts of laughter and applause from the audience. This was especially the case when she relayed a story in which she was nineteen years old writing about a very “old woman.” Come to find out, this “old” woman was merely forty years old and at this time in Atwood’s life, she had little imagination of what old age entails. She claimed that while “older people can remember being young, younger people can only imagine what it is like to be an older person.” Just as it is difficult–or in Atwood’s words, “not possible”– to write outside of one’s time, it is likewise difficult to write outside of one’s age.
Concluding the lecture, Atwood offered candid advice to students, admitting that, “hardly anyone starts out being respectable” in their craft. Her impressive career has constituted a long journey of trial and error that has led her to the point she is at now. Atwood expressed gratitude toward Ann Dowd for her vivid portrayal of Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid’s Tale series, along with the Hanify-Howland Lecture Committee co-chairs and the College for inviting her to speak. The lecture was followed by a cocktail hour and dinner attended by Atwood and Dowd, committee members, the Hanify and Howland families, and select faculty members.
The Committee extends its sincerest gratitude to event attendees and all of those who made this event possible. If you are interested in selecting a speaker for the coming year, reach out to Hanify-Howland@holycross.edu and stay tuned for more information on applications. Atwood’s lecture will go down in Holy Cross history as one of the most well-attended and anticipated Hanify-Howland Memorial lectures. The Committee looks forward to generating the same amount of buzz for its lectures in coming years.
Featured image courtesy of Worcester Telegram
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