Author Margaret Atwood has said that International Women's Day is needed because it draws attention to the inequalities that still exist around the world.
Speaking to RTÉ News ahead of a public interview in Galway this evening, Ms Atwood said different countries still have different kinds of problems, and IWD is used to draw attention to areas of different concern.
Margaret Atwood is taking part in a public interview in Galway this evening as part of Galway 2020.
Last year she was one of the winners of the Booker Prize for her novel 'The Testaments', the sequel to the 1980s classic 'The Handmaid's Tale'.
She says she wrote the book in the 1980s as a pushback against gains made by feminism in the 1970s.
A TV version of the book went into production in September 2016, and she said two months later, when Donald Trump was elected, the framing of the show and how it was going to be viewed changed. People saw the show as a possible future reality, which drew new attention.
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Margaret Atwood uses social media to communicate with her readers and the wider public.
She says social media has given women a public voice and has been used in issues including ‘Me Too’.
However she said people have to be aware that social platforms are publication and have to be aware that you can be sued for public statements in the same way as with any other form of publication.
When asked what advice she had for writers, Ms Atwood said you have to be quite adaptable if you have other things going on in your life.
Some people have regular schedules but if you wait for "that particular moment" it may never arrive.
She said you need to get something on the page, and that in order to be a writer you have to write.
