Tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of LGBTQReads, but today we are celebrating a different creation of mine (because really, why run your own space on the internet if not to celebrate yourself as often as possible): That Way Madness Lies: XV of Shakespeare’s Most Notable Works Reimagined!
Of course, though I’m the editor of this one (and also wrote a story), anthologies do not happen without the brilliant authors behind the contributions, especially the queer ones! Here’s the copy including the official lineup:
Fifteen acclaimed YA writers put their modern spin on William Shakespeare’s celebrated classics! West Side Story. 10 Things I Hate About You. Kiss Me, Kate. Contemporary audiences have always craved reimaginings of Shakespeare’s most beloved works. Now, some of today’s best writers for teens take on the Bard in these 15 whip-smart and original retellings!
Contributors include Dahlia Adler (reimagining The Merchant of Venice), Kayla Ancrum (The Taming of the Shrew), Lily Anderson (As You Like It), Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet), Melissa Bashardoust (A Winter’s Tale), A.R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing), Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147), Joy McCullough (King Lear), Anna-Marie McLemore (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Samantha Mabry (Macbeth), Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus), Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night), Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar), Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet), and Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest).
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No purchase necessary. The giveaway is open internationally to entrants 18 and older. Entry period begins at 12:00 p.m. EST on 3/16/21 and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on 3/21/21. Void where prohibited.
***To enter, tell us your favorite queer retelling in the comments!***
I think about the “Annabel Lee” re-imagining in your EAP antho ALL THE TIME. I really love it and it made me sad forever.
oh thats a hard one! But definitely Dark and Deepest Red, a retelling of Red shoes, by Anna Marie McLemore (one of my favorite authors of all time!)
Cinderella is Dead is definitely one of my favorite retellings!!
THE SONG OF ACHILLES BY MADELINE MILLER
I really loved THE CHOSEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL by Nghi Vo (The Great Gatsby told from the perspective of queer, Asian, magic Jordan Baker, out 6/1/21)
It was a staging of R2 in Philadelphia, a gay retelling of Romeo and Juliet set at a boys school. Loved it.
My Name is Red, by Anne Carson 🙂 not sure how valid it is since the queerness of the source material hasn’t been debated per se (I think) but it is definitely one of my all-time favourite works
As I Descended by Robin Talley, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Peter Darling by Austin Chant, Ash by Malinda Lo… it’s hard to choose just one.
LAST TRUE POETS OF THE SEA by Julia Drake!! My fave read of 2020, and fully found it because of LGBTQ Reads! Congrats on the release!
Two snow white retellings that I’m very fond of: girls made of snow and glass by melissa bashardoust, and winterbourne’s daughter by stephanie rabbit.
My fav queer retellings are Dark and Deepest Red by A.M. McLemore and Red from the All Out anthology!
I absolutely love Legendborn by Tracy Deonn! Such a great Arthurian retelling!
Ooooo! 🙂 I have to put ASH by Malinda Lo here because it was the first f/f retelling I ever read and I LOVE it. ONCE AND FUTURE is like the most mind-blowing King Arthur story. I also love CINDERELLA IS DEAD by Kalynn Bayron. And I’m not quite sure it was a retelling, but GIRL, SERPENT, THORN by Melissa Bashardoust was un-put-downable!!
I love Aliette de Bodard’s In the Vanishers’ Palace, and Blanca & Roja by Anna Marie McLemore!
Congratulations – you’re the winner! Please email your best shipping address to LGBTQReads@gmail.com!
I keep going back to Austin Chant’s Peter Darling. So much love.
Huge fan of Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston, but REALLY looking forward to Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Once and Future was a winner for me! I was looking for a good King Arthur retelling after Legendborn pulled me in, and this was perfect.
Definitely cinderella is dead🤗
Burning Roses by S.L. Huang!
ohhh! My favorite queer retelling is probably a tie between Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardhoust and In the Vanisher’s Palace by Aliette de Bodard
There’s this queer retelling of Medea —The Hungry Woman by Cherrie Moraga. It’s a stage play and it’s just *chef’s kiss*
Ash by Malinda Lo! It was among the very first LGBTQ books I’ve read and it definitely holds a special place for me.
I really loved The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake and I probably never would have found it without this wonderful site
Gay Pride and Prejudice by Kate Christie … when I read this, suddenly I *got* why straight people go so wild over the original
Definitely Blanca & Roja!
The Song of Achilles was heartbreakingly lovely. 🙂
My favourite wlw retelling is Ruingsong by Julia Ember! 🎭it’s a retelling of phantom of the opera. My favourite mlm retelling is Song of Achilles!
I recently read Cinderella is Dead and really really loved it!
Definitely have to go with one of my most recent reads: Cinderella is Dead!!
Cinderellis by Evie Drae!!!
Probably Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue!