Canongate Myth Series is a series of short
novels in which ancient
myths from myriad cultures are reimagined and rewritten by contemporary authors. The project was conceived in 1999 by
Jamie Byng, owner of the independent foundation
Scottish publishing firm Canongate Books, and the first three titles in the series were published on
October 21,
2005. Though the initial
novellas received mixed-to-positive reviews, the project was heralded by many in the press as "bold" and "ambitious," with
Metro calling it "one of the most ambitious acts of mass storytelling in recent years."
The series is intended to have an international focus, with contributing authors that have included Russian writer Victor Pelevin and Israeli author David Grossman. Also, the first title in the series, Karen Armstrong's A Short History of Myth, was published the same day in 33 countries and 28 languages, in what the Washington Post called "the biggest simultaneous publication ever." As of 2008, nine books have been published in the series, with Byng hoping to eventually publish 100.
The three latest titles were published in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2007: Binu and the Great Wall by Su Tong, Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith, and Where Three Roads Meet by Salley Vickers. Instalments in the series are also forthcoming from the authors Donna Tartt (writing about Daedalus and Icarus), A. S. Byatt, Chinua Achebe, Milton Hatoum, and Natsuo Kirino.
List of titles
| Title
| Author
| Mythological Characters
| Publication date
|
| A Short History of Myth
| Karen Armstrong
|
| October 21, 2005 |
| The Penelopiad
| Margaret Atwood
| Penelope, Odysseus
| October 21, 2005 |
| Weight
| Jeanette Winterson
| Atlas, Heracles
| October 21, 2005 |
| The Helmet of Horror
| Victor Pelevin
(trans. Andrew Bromfield)
| Theseus, the Minotaur
| 2005
March 2, 2006
October 2006 |
| Lion's Honey
| David Grossman
(trans. Stuart Schoffman)
| Samson
| 2005
March 23, 2006
June 1, 2006
October 2006 |
| Dream Angus
| Alexander McCall Smith
| Aengus
| September 12, 2006
October 5, 2006
October 2006 |
| Anna In w grobowcach świata
| Olga Tokarczuk
| Inanna
| 2006 |
| Girl Meets Boy
| Ali Smith
| Iphis
| November 1, 2007
December 21, 2007 |
| Binu and the Great Wall
| Su Tong
(trans. Howard Goldblatt)
| Meng Jiang
| 2006
October 2006
November 1, 2007
February 18, 2008 |
| Where Three Roads Meet
| Salley Vickers
| Oedipus, Tiresias
| November 1, 2007
August 10, 2008 |
| Baba Jaga je snijela jaje
| Dubravka Ugrešić
| Baba Yaga
| April 2008 |
| The Fire Gospel
| Michel Faber
| Prometheus
| November,2008
|
| The Myth of Izanagi and Izanami
| Natsuo Kirino
| Izanagi, Izanami
| March 10, 2009 |
References
External links
-
http://www.themyths.co.uk/ Canongate Myths official site
