Margaret Atwood Contributes Inaugural Manuscript to the Future Library

Posted on May 26, 2015

Margaret Atwood is the first author to contribute a book to the Future Library. The books contributed to the library will be printed 100 years from now. A thousand trees were planted in Nordmarka, Norway to supply the paper for the anthology that will be published in 2114.

One writer every year will contribute a book to the special anthology. The Future Library manuscripts will be held unpublished in a trust until 2114. They will be kept in a specially designed room at the New Deichmanske Public Library, which will open in 2018 in Bjorvika, Oslo. Scottish artist Katie Paterson conceived of the unique project. Paterson and Atwood are pictured visiting the Future Library Forest in Oslo in the above photograph.

Margaret Atwood is excited about being the inaugural writer for the Future Library. She says in a statement, "I am very honoured, and also happy to be part of this endeavor. This project, at least, believes the human race will still be around in a hundred years! Future Library is bound to attract a lot of attention over the decades, as people follow the progress of the trees, note what takes up residence in and around them, and try to guess what the writers have put into their sealed boxes."

Katie Paterson and Margaret Atwood talks about the unique project in this interview. She says the idea appealed to her immediately and she said yes right away. She also says it a very optimistic project and calls it a "communication across time." Take a look: