Margaret Atwood to tour UK for Handmaid's Tale sequel

Margaret Atwood will go on the road this autumn to promote the publication of The Testaments, her keenly awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale.

The Canadian author will talk about her book at the National Theatre in London on 10 September, an event that will be broadcast in cinemas around the globe.

That will be followed by a UK and Irish tour that will take her to six cities between 26 October and 2 November.

The Testaments is set 15 years after the end of her original 1985 novel.

According to publisher Chatto & Windus, the new book will feature "explosive testaments" by three female narrators.

The Handmaid's Tale, about women living under a totalitarian regime in an alternative America named Gilead, became an Emmy-winning TV drama starring Elisabeth Moss in 2017.

The second series was broadcast in the UK last year on Channel 4 last year and it's been renewed for a third season.

Atwood, 79, said she was "delighted" her talk with broadcaster Samira Ahmed would be 'live-streamed' to more than 1,000 cinemas around the world.

"I can't be in all the places at once in my analogue body, but I look forward to being with so many readers via the big screen," she added.

The author's six-date tour of the British Isles will see her visit venues in Gateshead, Salford, Birmingham, Oxford, Brighton and Dublin.

She will also attend a midnight launch event at Waterstones Piccadilly in central London on the evening of 9 September.

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