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Beowulf: A New Translation: A New Translation Audiobook
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"Narrator JD Jackson addresses his listener as "bro" in this decidedly contemporary retelling of the classic saga...His brilliant performance captures all the artistry, wit, and immediacy of this fresh translation, and breathes new life into what for most has been a literary fossil." -- AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner
A new, feminist translation of Beowulf by the author of the much-buzzed-about novel The Mere Wife
Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf—and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world—there is a radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements that have never before been translated into English, recontextualizing the binary narrative of monsters and heroes into a tale in which the two categories often entwine, justice is rarely served, and dragons live among us.
A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye toward gender, genre, and history—Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story. While crafting her contemporary adaptation of Beowulf, Headley unearthed significant shifts lost over centuries of translation.
A Macmillan Audio production from MCD x FSG Originals
"Brash and belligerent, lunatic and invigorating, with passages of sublime poetry punctuated by obscenities and social-media shorthand." --Ruth Franklin, The New Yorker
"The author of the crazy-cool Beowulf-inspired novel The Mere Wife tackles the Old English epic poem with a fierce new feminist translation that radically recontextualizes the tale."--Barbara VanDenburgh, USA Today
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“Narrator JD Jackson addresses his listener as ‘bro’ in this decidedly contemporary retelling of the classic saga…Jackson assumes the persona of a fellow veteran, whiskey-soaked, seated at the end of the bar spinning his extravagant tales. His brilliant performance captures all the artistry, wit, and immediacy of this fresh translation, and breathes new life into what for most has been a literary fossil. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“Brash and beligerent, lunatic and invigorating.”
— New Yorker -
“From the very opening of the poem—‘Bro!’ in the place of the sturdy Saxon exhortation ‘Hwaet’—you know this isn’t your grandpappy’s version of Beowulf…Brilliant.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
“Combines a modern poetry style with some of the hallmarks of Old English poetry, and the words practically sing off the page…Headley’s translation shows why it’s vital to have women and people from diverse backgrounds translate texts.”
— BuzzFeed
Awards
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
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A #1 Amazon.com bestseller in Epic Poetry
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Among longlisted titles for Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, 2020
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Winner of Hugo Award - Winner, 2021
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Among shortlisted titles for Hugo Award - Nominee, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for NPR Best Book of the Year, 2020
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Among shortlisted titles for Locus Awards - Nominee, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, 2020
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Winner of Hugo Award - Winner, 2021
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Among shortlisted titles for Hugo Award - Nominee, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for NPR Best Book of the Year, 2020
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Among shortlisted titles for Locus Awards - Nominee, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, 2020
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Winner of Hugo Award - Winner, 2021
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Among shortlisted titles for Hugo Award - Nominee, 2021
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Among longlisted titles for NPR Best Book of the Year, 2020
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Among shortlisted titles for Locus Awards - Nominee, 2021
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About Maria Dahvana Headley
Maria Dahvana Headley is an editor and author of several novels and a memoir. With Kat Howard, she is the author of The End of the Sentence, and with Neil Gaiman, she is co-editor of Unnatural Creatures. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards, and her work has been supported by the MacDowell Colony and by Arte Studio Ginestrelle, where the first draft of The Mere Wife was written.
About JD Jackson
JD Jackson is a theater professor, aspiring stage director, and award-winning audiobook narrator. He is a classically trained actor, and his television and film credits include roles on House, ER, Law & Order, Hack, Sherrybaby, Diary of a City Priest, and Lucky Number Slevin. He is the recipient of more than a dozen Earphones Awards for narration and an Odyssey Honor for G. Neri’s Ghetto Cowboy, and he was also named one of AudioFile magazine’s Best Voices of the Year for 2012 and 2013. An adjunct professor at Los Angeles Southwest College, he has an MFA in theater from Temple University.