Monday, Mar. 28, 2011

Margaret Atwood

Followers: 148K
Sample tweet: "True, if someone nicks my socks they are still 'mine.' I just can't wear them. Thus unenforceable copyrights."

It's a shame that Jane Austen never tweeted, or Dorothy Parker, or Mark Twain. (Just think what Hemingway could have done with 140 characters!) Thankfully, we still have the indefatigable Margaret Atwood. The author of more than 40 books including The Blind Assassin, The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake, Atwood has been short-listed for the prestigious Man Booker Prize five times, winning once, and has been honored with a slew of other literary awards. The Canadian novelist, essayist, poet and T-shirt designer is generous with friendly, chatty replies to her followers and fans, and tweets about the things most important to her: wildlife conservation, literature and the fate of writers and writing in an increasingly digital world.