A Word After a Word After a Word Is Power: How Margaret Atwood’s Writing Fuels Creative Resistance
Margaret Atwood’s famous line captures the relentless power of language and art in resisting oppression.
In a world where art and speech are increasingly under threat, Margaret Atwood’s words resonate like never before. The iconic author, known for The Handmaid’s Tale and her fearless defense of free expression, once wrote: “A word after a word after a word is power.”
This phrase captures the relentless, cumulative power of language—something every artist, poet, and writer understands deeply. In 2025, as censorship pressures mount and creative voices face unprecedented challenges, this truth has taken on fresh urgency.
Atwood’s work isn’t just literature. It’s a call to resist oppression through storytelling, to speak truth to power even when the stakes are high. Her words have become rallying cries for those who refuse to be silenced, echoed in art galleries, protest posters, and viral social media campaigns.
ART News
It’s not just writers who understand this power. Visual artists, filmmakers, and musicians have long relied on the layered strength of their mediums to challenge norms, provoke thought, and push boundaries. Every line, every frame, every chord is a statement—a word after a word in a different form.
As Atwood herself noted in a recent speech, the act of creating is inherently political. In a world increasingly defined by algorithmic suppression and pre-emptive censorship, the choice to speak, paint, or compose freely is an act of defiance.
For those navigating this hostile landscape, Atwood’s words offer a reminder that creativity is a form of power—one that accumulates, line by line, note by note, word after word. This spirit of defiance is something today’s artists must hold onto, as the fight for free expression continues.
ART Walkway News
