Books The Penelopiad, Weight, Lion's Honey: The Myth of S, The Helmet of Horror, Binu and The Great Wall | ||
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. 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.
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, Chinua Achebe and Natsuo Kirino.
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
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.