The Hogarth Shakespeare project was an effort by

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond (then in Surrey and n ...

to retell works by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

for a more modern audience. To do this, Hogarth commissioned well-known writers to select and re-imagine the plays.

Novels

Authors and works – as of May 2018 – include: * ''The Gap of Time'' by

Jeanette Winterson Jeanette Winterson (born 27 August 1959) is an English writer. Her first book, '' Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'', was a semi-autobiographical novel about a sensitive teenage girl rebelling against convention. Other novels explore gender pola ...

– a retelling of ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some crit ...

'' * ''Shylock is My Name'' by

Howard Jacobson Howard Eric Jacobson (born 25 August 1942) is a British novelist and journalist. He is known for writing comic novels that often revolve around the dilemmas of British Jewish characters.Ragi, K. R., "Howard Jacobson's ''The Finkler Question'' as ...

– an interpretation of ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'' * '' Vinegar Girl'' by

Anne Tyler Anne Tyler (born October 25, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. She has published twenty-four novels, including '' Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant'' (1982), ''The Accidental Tourist'' (1985), and ''Breathi ...

– a retelling of ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...

'' * ''

Hag-Seed ''Hag-Seed'' is a novel by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, published in October 2016. A modern retelling of William Shakespeare's '' The Tempest'', the novel was commissioned by Random House as part of its Hogarth Shakespeare series. The novel ...

'' by Margaret Atwood – a re-imagining of '' The Tempest'' * '' Macbeth'' by

Jo Nesbø Jo Nesbø (; born Jon Nesbø; 29 March 1960) is a Norwegian writer, musician, economist, and former football player and reporter. More than 3 million copies of his novels had been sold in Norway as of March 2014; his work has been translated ...

– a retelling of '' Macbeth'' * ''

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...

'' by

Edward St Aubyn Edward St Aubyn (born 14 January 1960) is an English author and journalist. He is the author of ten novels, including notably the semi-autobiographical ''Patrick Melrose'' novels. In 2006, ''Mother's Milk'' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. ...

– a retelling of ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...

'' * ''New Boy'' by

Tracy Chevalier Tracy Rose Chevalier (born 19 October 1962) is an American-British novelist. She is best known for her second novel, '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'', which was adapted as a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. Personal backgr ...

– a re-imagining of '' Othello'' Additionally, as far back as 2014,

Gillian Flynn Gillian Schieber Flynn (; born February 24, 1971) is an American author, screenwriter, and producer. She is known for writing the thriller and mystery novels, ''Sharp Objects'' (2006), '' Dark Places'' (2009), and '' Gone Girl'' (2012), which are ...

was supposed to be working on a re-telling of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', eventually due for release in 2021. but there is no longer a mention of this on the website of the publisher.

Development history

In June 2013, Random House announced the Hogarth Shakespeare series, as part of which well-known novelists re-tell a selection of Shakespeare's plays. Hogarth intended to release the series in 2016 to coincide with the four-hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare's death. The two re-tellings first announced in 2013 were Jeanette Winterson's ''The Winter's Tale'' adaptation and Anne Tyler's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' adaptation. Later that year, it was announced that Margaret Atwood and Howard Jacobson would join the series with ''The Tempest'' and ''The Merchant of Venice'' adaptations respectively. In 2014, it was announced that Jo Nesbø would adapt ''Macbeth'', that Edward St Aubyn would adapt ''King Lear'', that Tracy Chevalier would adapt ''Othello'', and that Gillian Flynn would adapt ''Hamlet'', although that last title has not been published. The Hogarth Shakespeare series intends to reimagine the entire canon, but no other adaptations have been announced. Sometimes before March 2021, what was the official URL for the series (hogarthshakespeare.com) started to link to the site of an online magazine specialising in

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

s and mangas, called ''Anime Shakespeare'', which, together with the lack of an announcement for a new title in over two years, seems to imply that the project has been quietly shut down by Hogarth/Penguin.

Awards and nominations

Winterson's ''The Gap of Time'' was a finalist for the 2016

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

s in the category Bisexual Fiction. In 2017, ''Hag-Seed'' was long-listed for the Bailey's

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

. Nesbø's ''Macbeth'' was shortlisted for the 2019 British Book Awards in the category Crime and Thriller. In 2019 it was also shortlisted for the Public Book Awards in Greece for Best Translated Novel and for the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers' Award for Best Translated Crime Novel.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/HSR/hogarth-shakespeare Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare Hogarth Press books Novels based on plays Novels based on works by William Shakespeare