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‘Hope is a built-in characteristic’: Margaret Atwood on birds, conservation and optimism for the future

The Guardian Culture Friday 25 September 2026, 13:00 UTC By Words and photographs by Leyland Cecco in Pelee Island 1 min read
Key Points

Canadian novelist has celebrated her late partner’s love of birds with a C$1m gift to a university to establish the Graeme Gibson chair in avian biologyIf she could be any bird, Margaret Atwood would transform into a raven. They’re social, playful and just a very successful bird,” she says while seated in a corner of a bird observatory in the Lake Erie Islands archipelago. “They’re quite an intelligent problem solver.

Canadian novelist has celebrated her late partner’s love of birds with a C$1m gift to a university to establish the Graeme Gibson chair in avian biology

If she could be any bird, Margaret Atwood would transform into a raven. “They’re very smart. They’re social, playful and just a very successful bird,” she says while seated in a corner of a bird observatory in the Lake Erie Islands archipelago. “They’re quite an intelligent problem solver.”

The observatory, which she set up with her late partner, Graeme Gibson, is located on the west shore of Pelee Island – the southernmost community in Canada – and is so new that there are no lightbulbs in a handful of lamps.

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Margaret Atwood (PERSON) Canadian (ORG) Graeme Gibson (PERSON) the Lake Erie Islands (LOCATION) the west shore (LOCATION) Pelee Island (LOCATION) Canada (LOCATION)
Originally published by The Guardian Culture Read original →

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