Episode 06: Epic Lit! Old Ass Plays! Replace Gilgamesh & Shakespeare with Murasaki Shikibu, Emily Wilson & Mary Zimmerman

Look, no one is arguing that Shakespeare wasn’t a great writer. Leigh named her other kid after a Shakespeare character, so everyone calm the F down. What we’re saying is that women playwrights write amazing shit today and they also wrote amazing shit a long time ago that’s just as or more compelling, beautiful and intriguing as Shakespeare, and students are missing out on these masterworks of literature and drama simply because misogyny and racism are the cornerstones of every public school English curriculum have we mentioned that yet oh my god this situation is ridiculous. This episode talks about original works and also some translations and re-tellings of white men’s words made better by women, so enjoy that because we sure did. FYI, Some scholars consider Murasaki Shibiku’s 10th Century The Tale of Genji the world’s first novel - but you’ll never hear that in public school. Whatever, you’ll hear it on Damned Scribbling Women. Let Willz take it easy on the ‘Choice Books’ shelf for once so students can explore and love these women’s words and perspectives instead:

Murasaki Shikibu * Diary of Lady Murasaki Shikibu * The Tale of Genji

Mary Zimmerman * Metamorphosis

Emily Wilson * The Odyssey (Translation)

Additional Sources

Janey Tracy * Ploughshares Emerson College * The Complicated Radicalism of Emily Wilson’s ‘The Odyssey’

Sara Ost * Bohemian.com April 1, 2020 * Of Tropes and Tatas

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