World-renowned Canadian author, Margaret Atwood, will be promoting her upcoming book, The Year of the Flood, by doing a reading in the auditorium at the main branch of Kitchener Public Library on Saturday, Sept. 26. Atwood's appearance is part of The Word on the Street literary festival, which will be held at Victoria Park in Kitchener on Sunday, Sept. 27.

"I always enjoy going to Kitchener, known for the best spinach salad 'way back in the '70s,'' says Atwood. ''It's too early for Oktoberfest, sadly. But Kitchener is one of only four cities in Canada to celebrate the written and spoken word at a free book festival such as The Word on the Street, and I'm honoured to be taking part in it."
Atwood will read at 11 a.m., followed by a question-and-answer session with the Waterloo Region Record's editor-in-chief, Lynn Haddrell. Book signings will also take place. Free tickets will be available beginning Saturday, Sept. 12 at 9 a.m., at the main library only (limit of two tickets per person).

''It is a great honour to have Margaret Atwood participate as part of Kitchener's Word on the Street this year,'' said Mayor Carl Zehr. ''As such a prominent Canadian literary figure, she will, without a doubt, draw attention to our festival, raising its profile locally and nationally.''

The author, who has received honorary degrees from universities across Canada, and one from Oxford University in England, will be doing LongPen signings with Halifax and Vancouver from Toronto, as part of Word on the Street the next day.

Canada's first live coast-to-coast book launch using the technology will broadcast Atwood in person from The Word On The Street Toronto to The Word On The Street festivals in Vancouver and Halifax.
Invented by Atwood as a way to reduce the amount of travelling during book tours, the interactive video broadcast will allow festival participants to engage in a question-and-answer session with the author. Atwood will sign books for fans in Vancouver and Halifax using the LongPen, allowing her to talk with each fan via a private video chat and to transmit a genuine, personalized autograph instantly to the interior pages of their copy of the book.

Atwood was born in Ottawa in 1939. She is the author of more than 40 books - novels, short stories, poetry, literary criticism, social history, and books for children.
Her novels include The Handmaid's Tale and Cat's Eye - both shortlisted for the Booker Prize; The Robber Bride, winner of the Trillium Book Award and a finalist for the Governor General's Award; Alias Grace, winner of the prestigious Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy, and a finalist for the Governor General's Award, the Booker Prize, the Orange Prize, and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; The Blind Assassin, winner of the Booker Prize and a finalist for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; and Oryx and Crake, a finalist for the Giller Prize, the Governor General's Award, the Orange Prize, and the Man Booker Prize.

Her most recent books of fiction are The Penelopiad, The Tent, and Moral Disorder.
She 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 she was the first winner of the London Literary Prize.
Margaret Atwood lives in Toronto with novelist Graeme Gibson.