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Description

Drawing together an interdisciplinary range of scholarly and creative voices, this volume looks at contemporary discussions surrounding women's engagement with the classical past. There is a discussion as to why classical creative retellings are so popular now, as well as considerations of what creativity can do to foster new ways of thinking and writing about classics, thus blurring the boundary between the creative and the critical. In particular, the contributors engage with debates on how to make classics more accessible through the medium of creative works, so that it is not just a discipline for the selective few.

The inclusion of original creative work by women writers – such as poems by Katie Byford and Carrie Etter, and interviews with Madeline Miller and Kamila Shamsie – foregrounds new voices that have previously been excluded or overlooked by classical academia. As a result, this cutting-edge collaboration between practitioners and researchers offers new insights into issues on equality, diversity and inclusivity, all which point forward towards a 'new' classics.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors

Introduction (Emily Hauser and Helena Taylor, Exeter University, UK)

Part One: Interviews and Collaborations

1. Homer's Women: Why Now? (Emily Hauser, Exeter University, UK)

2. Paths of Survival: Excavating the Past Through Poetry (Josephine Balmer, Independent Scholar, UK; Fiona Cox, Exeter University, UK; Elena Theodorakopoulos, Birmingham University, UK)

3. Discussion and Presentation of a New Play on Dido (Edith Hall, Durham University, UK)

4. Retelling Traumatic Tragedies (Christine Plastow, Open University, UK; Wendy Haines, Exeter University, UK)

5. On Not Translating Homer (Yopie Prins, Michigan University, USA)

6. Gwyneth Lewis, interviewed by Fiona Cox (Exeter University, UK)

7. Ronni Kern, interviewed by Ruby Blondell (University of Washington, USA)

8. Emily Hauser, interviewed by Lena Linne (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany)

9. Madeline Miller, interviewed by Emily Hauser (Exeter University, UK)

Part Two: Creative Work

10. Original short story on Orpheus and Eurydice (Jennifer Saint, Independent Scholar, USA)

11. Original creative piece by Roz Kaveney (Roz Kaveney, Independent Scholar, USA)

12. Bats in the Metamorphoses(Katie Byford, Independent Scholar, UK)

13. Original Poetry by Carrie Etter (Carrie Etter, University of Bristol, UK)

14. Original poetry by Gwyneth Lewis (“Stage Manager's Notes”) (Gwyneth Lewis, Independent Scholar, UK)

15. Contemporary Women Poets: Discussion between contemporary poets Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Clare Pollard, Carrie Etter (Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Clare Pollard, Carrie Etter, Independent Scholars, UK)

16. Finding Three Voices: Catullus, Callimachus, Me (Isobel Williams, Independent Scholar, UK)

17. Transforming Voices: Ovid's Metamorphoses in Translation (Victoria Punch, Exeter University, UK)

18. Declassifying Myself (Donna Zuckerberg, Independent Scholar, USA)

19. Using Smells and Bells: Five Ways to Help you Write about Classics Creatively (Caroline Lawrence, Independent Scholar, USA)

Part Three: Creativity for the Future and Inclusive Classics

20. Students Shaping Classics: Non-traditional, Open Assessment, Creativity, Inclusivity and Shifting Disciplinary Boundaries” (Helen Lovatt, University of Nottingham, UK)

21. Creative Teaching: Facing the Fear and Doing it Anyway (Sharon Marshall, Exeter University, UK)

22. On equality, diversity and inclusivity in education and leadership (Katherine Harloe, Director of the Institute of Classical Studies, UK)

23. Breaking the Form: Women Writers (Tom Geue, St. Andrews University, UK; Emily Hauser, Exeter University, UK; Daisy Dunn, Independent Scholar, UK)

Conclusion (Emily Hauser and Helena Taylor, Exeter University, UK)

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 10 Jul 2025
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 336
ISBN 9781350445093
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Emily Hauser

Emily Hauser is a Lecturer in Classics and Ancient…

Anthology Editor

Helena Taylor

Helena Taylor is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow…

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