Spinning Shakespeare into modern prose: Will it work?
Shakespeare鈥檚 getting a makeover 鈥� again.
Random House publishing imprint Hogarth has started the Hogarth Shakespeare, which will bring in current authors to adapt the Bard鈥檚 plays for a current audience. So far, 鈥淏reathing Lessons鈥� writer Anne Tyler and 鈥淲hy Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?鈥� author Jeanette Winterson have signed on, Tyler to adapt 鈥淭he Taming of the Shrew鈥� and Winterson to restyle 鈥淭he Winter鈥檚 Tale.鈥� Writers from all over the world will be brought in to adapt the stories, and the fruits of their labor are planned for a 2016 release date to go with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare鈥檚 death. The stories will be released in print, e-book, and audio form.
The new versions will be 鈥減rose retellings,鈥� according to . It has not been mentioned whether all of Shakespeare鈥檚 works will be adapted.
The new versions will 鈥渂e true to the spirit of the original dramas and their popular appeal, while giving authors an exciting opportunity to reinvent these seminal works of English literature,鈥� according to a statement from Hogarth.
鈥淚 don't know which I'm looking forward to more,鈥� Tyler told the . 鈥淒elving into the mysteries of shrewish Kate or finding out what all the other writers do with their Shakespeare characters.鈥�
How will the public receive rewritten Shakespeare? Some have their doubts 鈥� the article on the project carried the headline 鈥淓nlisting novelists to rewrite Shakespeare: A losing proposition?鈥�
鈥淚t asks famous writers to essentially best the greatest of their forefathers 鈥� by grappling with his own oeuvre,鈥� LA Times writer Alexander Nazaryan wrote.
But writer Bidisha is looking forward to the reimaginings.聽
鈥淚'm intrigued,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淭o appoint acclaimed, fully established writers like Winterson and Tyler is hardly some facetious gimmick. It's an opportunity to discover what the timeless geniuses of now make of a timeless genius of then.鈥�
