Margaret Atwood will embark on a speaking tour of Australia next year to celebrate publication of The Testaments, the Booker prize-winning sequel to her seminal 1985 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale.

The Canadian author will tour major capital cities in February and March, less than 12 months after her one-night-only show at the Sydney Opera House this year.

The event will be in conversation. Although the host has not yet been announced, Atwood is expected to reflect on her life and works, as well as discuss her decision to extend The Handmaid’s Tale story around the fictional totalitarian state of Gilead that she began more than three decades ago.

Guardian Australia understands the event will also involve opportunities for the audience to ask the acclaimed author questions.

Atwood said: “I am so happy to be returning to Australia, where I have spent much time in the past, and where readers have always been so warm and welcoming.”

Atwood, 79, has published more than 60 books, including poetry, novels, short fiction, essays – even a graphic novel. She is renowned for the versatility of her work, and has won a swag of prizes, from genre-focused awards such as the Arthur C Clarke award for science fiction, to the highest of literary accolades, the Booker.

Her work was catapulted to even greater acclaim on the 2017 release of Hulu’s TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale starring Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Joseph Fiennes and Ann Dowd.

The Testaments was jointly awarded this year’s Booker prize only weeks after its publication, along with Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. Atwood has won the Booker once before, for The Blind Assassin in 2000. Her recent win makes her the oldest recipient of the award.

Atwood’s Australian tour starts in Sydney on 16 February where she will appear for two nights, before heading to Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart and Perth.