Atwood will headline 2011 Frye Festival

Canadian author Margaret Atwood will headline the 2011 Northrop Frye Festival in Moncton,N.B.,event organizers announced on Wednesday.

Dawn Arnold, the chairwoman of the literary event, said she has been inviting the award-winning Canadian author for many years to visit the annual festival.

Arnold said Atwood is the author that festival participants most often request to appear.

Arnold said she was at an Arizona airport in January when her friend spotted Atwood behind them in line.

"I started shaking and I pulled out my business card and I went up to her and I introduced myself and I told her how much I would love to have her come to the Frye Festival in Moncton, New Brunswick," Arnold said.

"She said she knew all about it and that it was something that she would really love to do but she couldn't come that year, which would have been 2010. But she'd be delighted to come in 2011, and I said, 'OK, you're in.'"

Atwood will deliver the Northrop Frye-Antonine Maillet lecture at the event.

Arnold said Atwood's appearance at the annual literary festival is fitting because she was a student of Frye.

Atwood has written more than 30 books, including award-winning novels The Handmaid's Tale, Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin.

Frye was a Canadian literary critic who was raised in Moncton.

The bilingual literary event brings together authors, poets, playwrights and graphic novelists together in the final weekend of April each year.

Arnold said she's confirmed everything with Atwood's staff and the author's recent posts on Twitter are exciting.

"She's been tweeting about it. She's a big Twitter fan so she's been tweeting that she's coming to the Frye Festival, so in my books when an author tweets that they're coming that's a very good confirmation that they'll actually show up."

Arnold said Atwood's appearance will help to expand the reputation of the Frye Festival.