The ''Canongate Myth Series'' is a series of

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

s published by the independent Scottish publisher

Canongate Books Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner ''Life of Pi''. Canongate was ...

, in which ancient myths from various cultures are reimagined and rewritten. The project was conceived in 1999 by Jamie Byng, owner of Canongate, and the first three titles in the series were published on 21 October 2005."World's top writers recruited to rewrite ancient tales"
CBC.ca, 21 October 2005. Though the initial novellas received mixed-to-positive reviews,Alexander, Caroline

'' The New York Times'', 11 December 2005. the project was heralded by many in the press as "bold" and "ambitious","'Free will is like falling off a roof'"
'' The Daily Telegraph'', 19 March 2006.Hand, Elizabeth.
"The New Muses: A highly anticipated series of classic myths re-imagined by modern authors"
'' The Washington Post'', 25 December 2005. with the tabloid '' Metro'' calling it "one of the most ambitious acts of mass storytelling in recent years". Canongate Myth Series
official site The series is intended to have an international focus, with contributing authors that have included Russian writer Victor Pelevin and Israeli author

David Grossman David Grossman ( he, דויד גרוסמן; born January 25, 1954) is an Israeli author. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2018, he was awarded the Israel Prize for literature. Biography David Grossman was born i ...

. 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. Three titles were published in the United Kingdom on 1 November 2007: '' Binu and the Great Wall'' by

Su Tong Tong Zhonggui (; born January 23, 1963), known by the pen name of Su Tong () is a Chinese writer. He was born in Suzhou and lives in Nanjing. He entered the Department of Chinese at Beijing Normal University in 1980, and started to publish no ...

, '' Girl Meets Boy'' by

Ali Smith Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting". Early life and education Smith was born in Inverness on 24 Au ...

, and ''

Where Three Roads Meet ''Where Three Roads Meet'' is a book of three metafictional novellas by American writer John Barth John Simmons Barth (; born May 27, 1930) is an American writer who is best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly ...

'' by

Salley Vickers Salley Vickers (born 1948) is a British novelist whose works include ''Miss Garnet's Angel'', ''Mr. Golightly's Holiday'', ''The Other Side of You'' and ''Where Three Roads Meet'', a retelling of the Oedipus myth to Sigmund Freud in the last mo ...

. Installments in the series are also forthcoming from the authors

A. S. Byatt Dame Antonia Susan Duffy ( Drabble; born 24 August 1936), known professionally by her former marriage name as A. S. Byatt ( ), is an English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer. Her books have been widely translated, into more than t ...

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and ''magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies a ...

and

Natsuo Kirino (born October 7, 1951, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture) is the pen name of Mariko Hashioka, a Japanese novelist and a leading figure in the recent boom of female writers of Japanese detective fiction. Biography Kirino is the middle child of th ...

.FT.com / Arts & weekend / Books – Myth understood
/ref> Michel Faber's contribution, ''

The Fire Gospel ''The Fire Gospel'' is a 2008 novel by Michel Faber published by Canongate Books in its Myth Series. Summary ''The Fire Gospel'' is a reinterpretation of the myth of Prometheus that broadly satirises the publishing industry. The plot centr ...

'', was published in 2008. 2009 saw the publication of '' Baba Yaga Laid an Egg'' by Dubravka Ugrešić and '' The Hurricane Party'' by

Klas Östergren Klas Östergren (born 20 February 1955) is a Swedish novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and translator. Östergren had a breakthrough with his fourth novel ''Gentlemen'' in 1980. He has been awarded numerous Swedish literary prizes, su ...

. '' Orphans of Eldorado'' by Milton Hatoum and ''

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'' is a novel by Philip Pullman. Published in 2010 by Canongate Books, as part of the Canongate Myth Series, it retells the story of Jesus as if he were two people, brothers, "Jesus" and "Christ," w ...

'' by Philip Pullman were published in 2010.

List of titles

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

TheMyths.co.uk
Canongate Myths official site
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
official book page Parallel literature Novel series Canongate Books books Series of books Book series introduced in 2005