TORONTO - It's not your ordinary book tour.
To promote her new novel, "The Year of the Flood," acclaimed author Margaret Atwood has written a one-hour theatrical performance based on the book.
The piece will include three actors and a choir, with Atwood serving as narrator.
The author is scheduled to present the show in six Canadian cities, as well as in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Sweden.
"There have been many challenges, but it's a chance to break free from the traditional structure of a book tour," Atwood said in a statement.
"I felt this particular novel deserved a more complex presentation. It's also a great chance to work with other creative minds and see their interpretation of the story come to light."
Local actors and choirs will be used for each performance, a move the author's publisher says is designed to reduce "the carbon footprint of a travelling cast."
The tour kicks off Sept. 22 in Ottawa, moving on to Kingston, Ont., on Sept. 23 and Toronto on Sept. 24. Atwood will be in Calgary on Sept. 29, Vancouver on Oct. 1 and Sudbury, Ont., on Nov. 19.
Stops in five of the cities will be fundraisers for Nature Canada, while the Kingston show will benefit the Community Harvest Working Group.
An original score has been written for the piece by Los Angeles composer Orville Stoeber.
"The Year of the Flood," which goes on sale Sept. 8, tells the story of the period before and after a pandemic.
Atwood's previous novels include "The Handmaid's Tale," "Alias Grace" and "The Blind Assassin."
"The Year of the Flood" picks up on themes examined in her novel "Oryx and Crake."
