Canongate Myth Series

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 publisher Canongate Books, and the first three titles in the series were published on 21 October 2005.^[1] Though the initial novellas received mixed-to-positive reviews,^[2][3][4] the project was heralded by many in the press as "bold" and "ambitious",^[4][5][6] with Metro calling it "one of the most ambitious acts of mass storytelling in recent years".^[7]

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."^[6] As of 2008, nine books have been published in the series, with Byng hoping to eventually publish 100.^[7]

Three titles were published in the United Kingdom on 1 November 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 A. S. Byatt,^[1] Chinua Achebe and Natsuo Kirino.^[8]

Michel Faber's contribution, The Fire Gospel was published in 2008. 2009 saw the publication of Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugrešić and The Hurricane Party by Klas Östergren.

Orphans of Eldorado by Milton Hatoum and The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman were published in 2010.

List of titles

Title	Author	Mythological characters	Publication date
A Short History of Myth	Karen Armstrong		21 October 2005 19 October 2005
The Penelopiad	Margaret Atwood	Penelope, Odysseus	21 October 2005 19 October 2005
Weight	Jeanette Winterson	Atlas, Heracles	21 October 2005
The Helmet of Horror	Victor Pelevin (trans. Andrew Bromfield)	Theseus, the Minotaur	2005 2 March 2006 October 2006 30 November 2006
Lion's Honey	David Grossman (trans. Stuart Schoffman)	Samson	2005 23 March 2006 1 June 2006 October 2006 4 December 2006
Dream Angus	Alexander McCall Smith	Aengus	12 September 2006 5 October 2006 October 2006
Anna In w grobowcach świata (Anna In and the Tombs of the World)	Olga Tokarczuk (not translated)	Inanna	2006
Girl Meets Boy	Ali Smith	Iphis	1 November 2007 21 December 2007 26 September 2008
Binu and the Great Wall	Su Tong (trans. Howard Goldblatt)	Meng Jiang Nu	2006 October 2006 1 November 2007 18 February 2008
Where Three Roads Meet	Salley Vickers	Oedipus, Tiresias	1 November 2007 10 August 2008
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg	Dubravka Ugrešić	Baba Yaga	April 2008 May 2009
The Fire Gospel	Michel Faber	Prometheus	November 2008
The Goddess Chronicle	Natsuo Kirino (trans. Rebecca Copeland)	Izanagi, Izanami	3 March 2013
Orphans of Eldorado	Milton Hatoum	Mythology of Amazonia	January 2008 2 July 2009
The Hurricane Party	Klas Östergren	Norse mythology	2009
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ	Philip Pullman	Christian mythology	April 2010 28 October 2010
Ragnarok	A. S. Byatt	Ragnarok	September 2011

This series was being published in hardback editions with a mass market paperback edition published later, but will now be published initially in either hardback or paperback.

References

External links

• TheMyths.co.uk, Canongate Myths official site
• The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, official book page