Reimagining Folktales, But for the Ear: A Conversation with Mahsuda Snaith, by Carolyne Larrington

Interviews Carolyne Larrington Audible’s new fiction podcast, Hag, launching August 29, features eight reimaginings of traditional British folktales by eight contemporary female writers, with folktales chosen from across the UK. The collection will be released in audio only, building on the time-old tradition of oral storytelling. Mahsuda Snaith’s story, “The Panther’s Tale,” is written as a lost “full version” of Staffordshire’s “Legend of Chillington Hall.” Keeping the original setting, Snaith tells the story of Sir John Giffard and his fondness for wild beasts but with a modern outlook. Narrated in Snaith’s vivid, visceral style, her version of the story speaks of imprisonment, fierceness, and female solidarity. Carolyne Larrington, who teaches medieval English literature at St. John’s College, University of Oxford, was the consultant on the HAG project, researching the original tales that inspired each writer, chatting with the authors who wanted more background, and then interviewing each writer after the stories were finished. These fascinating conversations range back and forth between discussing themes and motifs in folk tradition and the authors’ own feelings about the tales they had been given. Carolyne Larrington: How did you become involved with the project? What drew you to it? Mahusda Snaith Mahsuda Snaith: Harriet Poland from Audible approached my agent about writing a story for the project. She’d read my previous... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2019-08-30 14:21:50 UTC ]

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