Background
Publisher Jamie Byng of Canongate Books solicited author Margaret Atwood to write a novella re-telling a classic myth of her choice. Byng explained it would be published simultaneously in several languages as part of an international project called the Canongate Myth Series. Atwood agreed to help the rising young publisher by participating in the project. From her home in Toronto, the 64-year-old author made attempts at writing the Norse creation myth and a Native American story but struggled. After speaking with her British literary agent about canceling her contract, Atwood began thinking about the Odyssey. She had first read it as a teenager and remembered finding the imagery of Penelope’s twelve maids being hanged in the denouement disturbing. Atwood believed the roles of Penelope and her maids during Odysseus' absence had been a largely neglected scholarly topic and that she could help address it with this project.
Read more about this topic: The Penelopiad
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