By Kristi Spuhler for LitLoversGet excited Margaret Atwood fans, get very excited! The renowned author of The Handmaid’s Tale and The MaddAddam Trilogy is penning a new work.
All YOU have to do is wait around for 100 years to read it.
Yes, you read that correctly. Atwood's putting the finishing touches on what’s sure to be another amazing book, but an actual copy won’t be available for public eyes until 2114.
We understand this might sounds a little strange to you—why would an author spend so much time penning her next work only to hide it away for 100 years? The reason: Atwood is the first author commissioned to take part in the Future Library.
This astonishing public artwork began with the planting of a forest of 1,000 trees just outside Oslo, Norway, this past summer. In 100 years, this forest will be used to print a special anthology of never-before-seen books penned specifically for the project.
While the forest grows, the Future Library’s creator, Katie Paterson, along with a team of literary experts from the Future Library trust, will approach one writer each year and challenge him or her to “conceive and produce a work in the hopes of finding a receptive reader in an unknown future.”
After they’ve been written, the manuscripts will be locked away in a specially designed room in the Deichmanske public library.
The room, which will be lined with wood from the forest, will display the names of participating authors and the titles of their contributed works, but the manuscripts will remain unavailable until they are printed at the completion of the project.
Atwood herself seems to be positively reveling in the secrecy of the undertaking, saying to Guardian writers:
It's part of the contract you can't tell anybody what you're writing. I'm finding it very delicious, because I get to say to people like you [the Guardian], I'm not telling. But I will say that I've bought some special archival paper, which will not decay in its sealed box over 100 years.
Though it looks like we’ll never know what’s in store for the lucky readers who haven’t been born, yet, one things certain—they’re in for a literary treat.We can’t wait to see what writers are chosen next to submit their works. Which authors would you like to see get involved in the project? So...how does it feel not being able to read your favorite writer’s newest work?