Margaret Atwood is deeply worried about the US presidential election: "You have a choice between somebody who without a doubt... will impose a vengeful tyrannyCruel and aggressive use of power, often used to describe countries under the grip of a single oppressive leader., and another person who wouldn't. You get dictatorships when times are bad and chaotic, because people are willing to trade in their democratic rights for somebody who says they can fix it. That is usually a lie. But that's how you get there."¹

At 84, Atwood is revered by many as a brilliant writer who can see the future. The Handmaid's Tale, published in 1985, foresaw an America in which men controlled women's bodies. Two years ago the US supreme courtThe highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. overturned women's right to an abortionThe deliberate ending of a pregnancy. .

Her collection of poems Paper Boat, published today, includes one from 1964 called After the Flood, We. It warns not only of climate-change disaster but of humans' ability to ignore it:

fish must be swimming, down in the forest beneath us ..., the city, wide and silent, is lying lost, far undersea. You saunter beside me, talking, of the beauty of the morning, not even knowing, that there has been a flood

In her latest SubstackAn American online platforms through which people can publish newsletters. post she considers what a Trump victory might bring: "To paraphraseRewording someone else's words. Often done to make their meaning clearer. his own words: you need a time of extreme violence and blood." Its targets will include: "Any Republican who has opposed Trump's will at any time... Leading Democrats, it goes without saying. Also included will be those who even vaguely resemble an undocumented immigrant. Anyone with a gun will be enabled to shoot them."

Then there will be those within Trump's MAGAMake America Great Again. The slogan was a key part of Trump's election campaign in 2016.  movement who think they can control him as a puppet - including Elon MuskA South African-born entrepreneur whose companies have included the online payment service PayPal. He now controls Twitter, renamed 'X'.. Atwood makes a comparison with Hitler's supporters who were murdered in the Night of the Long KnivesA purge in Nazi Germany in summer 1934. Hitler ordered a series of killings of other Nazi leaders to sure up his power. .  

Trump, she says, will take over leading media companies such as Meta and X, and get rid of journalists who oppose him. He will also establish concentration campsA large prison for people held without legal justification, such as political prisoners or persecuted minorities. The first concentration camps were built by British colonial rulers in South Africa, but the term is most associated with Nazi camps, some of which were used to execute Jewish and other inmates as well as to imprison them. for illegal immigrants - and anyone reported to have criticised him.

Trump might not have it all his own way: Atwood suggests that he could be overthrown by his vice-presidential candidate JD Vance - "slicker, smarter, and more plausible as a leader, but also more of a fanaticSomeone who fervently and enthusiastically believes in something. ". Another possibility is that Joe BidenAn American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. could call in the army to stop Trump before his presidency ends on 6 January.

All this might sound far-fetched. But Atwood cites the French RevolutionThe overthrow (and subsequent execution) of France's king and aristocratic government in 1789. The revolution became infamous and influential worldwide.: "It was like a snowball beginning to roll down the hill, and then it gets bigger and bigger. At any point people could have made decisions that would have turned it the other way."²

Atwood, however, does not claim to know everything. "I'm the great sage on top of the mountain," she says jokingly. "If you've lived to a certain age people think you know something because they haven't got there yet."

And despite the grim scenariosPotential situations. she suggests, she believes there is hope. She points out that every generation has thought itself to be facing the end of the world, and calls hope a "come with": "It comes with being human."

Is the Handmaid's Tale author a prophet? 

Yes: She has already shown herself ahead of her time with regard to women's rights and the environment. Her novel Oryx and Crake, published in 2003, imagines a pandemic which devastates the world.

No: She just happens to be highly imaginative, intelligent and good at writing. Authors of dystopianRelating to an imagined society where there is great suffering or injustice.  novels like to come up with terrible scenarios, but do not necessarily believe they will come to pass.

Or... Even if she is not, we should treat her writing as a warning. There is nothing to lose if we prepare for the worst, and a great deal to lose if we are not willing to contemplate it.

Paper Boat: New and Selected Poems 1961-2023 by Margaret Atwood is published by Chatto & Windus (£25).

Tyranny - Cruel and aggressive use of power, often used to describe countries under the grip of a single oppressive leader.

Supreme Court - The highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions.

Abortion - The deliberate ending of a pregnancy.

Substack - An American online platforms through which people can publish newsletters.

Paraphrase - Rewording someone else's words. Often done to make their meaning clearer.

MAGA - Make America Great Again. The slogan was a key part of Trump's election campaign in 2016. 

Elon Musk - A South African-born entrepreneur whose companies have included the online payment service PayPal. He now controls Twitter, renamed 'X'.

Night of the Long Knives - A purge in Nazi Germany in summer 1934. Hitler ordered a series of killings of other Nazi leaders to sure up his power.

Concentration camps - A large prison for people held without legal justification, such as political prisoners or persecuted minorities. The first concentration camps were built by British colonial rulers in South Africa, but the term is most associated with Nazi camps, some of which were used to execute Jewish and other inmates as well as to imprison them.

Fanatic - Someone who fervently and enthusiastically believes in something.

Joe Biden - An American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025.

French Revolution - The overthrow (and subsequent execution) of France's king and aristocratic government in 1789. The revolution became infamous and influential worldwide.

Scenarios - Potential situations.

Dystopian - Relating to an imagined society where there is great suffering or injustice.