Bookmark This! Ep 20: Feminists take on literary classics

22:17 mins

Synopsis: A monthly literary podcast by The Straits Times featuring titles in the headlines and sizzling reads.

Bro! Tell me about a complicated man. In the Women's Day episode of this literary podcast, The Straits Times journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li talk about feminist translations of the male-dominated classics, such as Emily Wilson's groundbreaking The Odyssey and Maria Dahvana Headley's swaggering Beowulf.

They also discuss rewrites of tradition like Natalie Haynes' A Thousand Ships, which recounts the Trojan War in myriad women's voices, and Aoko Matsuda's Where The Wild Ladies Are, a fresh spin on Japanese ghost stories.

Listen at:

1. Beowulf, translated by Maria Dahvana Headley (1:21)

2. The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson (11:40)

3. A Thousand Ships, rewritten by Natalie Haynes (16:40)

4. Where The Wild Ladies Are, a 2016 collection of short stories by Aoko Matsuda, translated from Japanese to English in by Polly Barton last year (2020) (18:12)

Produced by: Olivia Ho, Toh Wen Li and Penelope Lee

Edited by: Penelope Lee

Subscribe to Bookmark This! Podcast series and rate us on your favourite audio apps:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWas

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWae

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWan

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju4n

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read Olivia's stories: https://str.sg/JbhW

Read Toh Wen Li's stories: https://str.sg/Jbhm