Margaret Atwood Receives The World Economic Forum's Crystal Award in Davos,
Switzerland

TORONTO , Jan. 27 /CNW/ - McClelland & Stewart is pleased to announce that beloved Canadian author Margaret Atwood has received the World Economic Forum's Crystal Award 2010 in Davos, Switzerland . The Crystal Award has been presented as part of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010 - Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild, and honours artists who have used their art to improve the state of the world.

Atwood said: "I am very honoured to have been given the Crystal Award this year. The future of the planet will depend on a great deal of human creativity, and it is heartening to see an organization focused on economies recognizing the contributions made by artistic creators and thinkers. After all, language, music, and visual art are a part of the human heritage that is much older than economies as we know them today. They are who we are, while money is a neutral tool that enables us to do what we imagine."

The Crystal Award was introduced in 1995 to honour personalities who are highly regarded as both cultural leaders and global citizens committed to improving the state of the world. The award (a Swiss mountain crystal) pays tribute to the decisive role that culture and arts play in the creation of global understanding and peace and is presented at the Meeting in the presence of all the participants and the media. Former recipients include actor and writer Emma Thompson , cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and dancer Mallika Sarabhai for outstanding excellence in the field of culture.

Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa in 1939, and grew up in northern Quebec and Ontario, and later in Toronto . She is the author of more than forty books - novels, short stories, poetry, literary criticism, social history, and books for children. Her internationally bestselling fiction includes The Year of the Flood, Oryx and Crake, The Blind Assassin, Alias Grace, and The Handmaid's Tale. Her books have won such prestigious literary awards as the Booker Prize, the Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award.

Atwood is the recipient of numerous honours, such as The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence in the U.K., the National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature in the U.S., Le Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France , and, most recently, the Prince of Asturias Award for Letters in Spain . She has received honorary degrees from universities across Canada , and one from Oxford University in England.

Margaret Atwood lives in Toronto with novelist Graeme Gibson.

For further information: Ashley Dunn, Publicity Manager, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., [phone] x 238, [email protected]