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Hag cover art

Hag

By: Daisy Johnson, Eimear McBride, Liv Little, Kirsty Logan, Naomi Booth, Emma Glass, Natasha Carthew, Mahsuda Snaith, Tom Curry
Narrated by: Cameron Crighton, Amy Lunn, Eimear McBride, Anjli Mohindra, Rhian Morgan, Maggie Service, Michelle Tiwo, Taj Atwal, Edward Rowe
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  • Summary

  • Exploring otherness, identity, faith, religion, gender and sexual trauma, Hag brings together a gripping collection of tales that are unsettlingly timely and wickedly sinister. Each story is inspired by a forgotten folk tale sourced from across the UK by Professor Carolyne Larrington, a specialist in Old Norse and British fairy tales at St John's College, Oxford. Drawn from illuminated manuscripts and other folkloric traditions, these stories have been revised and reimagined by authors local to each region. Just as the Brothers Grimm codified Germany's rural folk lore, Hag catalogues the early myths and legends that have shaped the UK's storytelling heritage.

    Each story has been richly sound-designed, combining subtle vocal effects, atmospheric textures and an original score.

    Listeners who want to find out more about the forgotten folk tales that inspired Hag will be able to explore further with a series of accompanying interviews between Professor Carolyne Larrington and the authors.

    This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. You can download all 8 episodes to your Library now.

    ©2019 Daisy Johnson, Eimear McBride, Kirsty Logan, Mahsuda Snaith, Naomi Booth, Emma Glass, Natasha Carthew, Liv Little (P)2019 Audible, Ltd.
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Episodes
  • The Sisters by Liv Little

    The Sisters by Liv Little

     Forgotten Folk Lore, Retold As Feminist Fables
    Aug 28 2019

    As their mother lies dying, Chlo takes her chance to paper over the cracks of the past, whilst Grace breaks through to a new, independent future.
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    1 hr and 8 mins
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  • The Droll of the Mermaid by Natasha Carthew

    The Droll of the Mermaid by Natasha Carthew

     Forgotten Folk Lore, Retold As Feminist Fables
    Aug 28 2019

    Lowman’s family have handed down the gift of healing from father to son for centuries, terrorising the local townspeople more with every passing generation.
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    1 hr and 17 mins
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  • The Dampness is Spreading by Emma Glass

    The Dampness is Spreading by Emma Glass

     Forgotten Folk Lore, Retold As Feminist Fables
    Aug 28 2019

    Eira longed to be a mother, but when a young girl arrives at hospital alone, and heavily pregnant, her maternal dream quickly becomes a parent’s worst nightmare.
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    1 hr and 8 mins
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Literature & Fiction Fantasy
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What listeners say about Hag

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Profile Image for miss s brandon

Emotional and clever

Having trouble with infertility and going through baby loss is a huge emotional pain for many women I felt this on a personal level
Midwives deal with an incredible amount of emotional stress and I imagine that takes a toll especially when you have fertility issues…this was a very modern and clever adaptation of the original folk story…the writer deserves a great deal of admiration for a extremely talented adaptation…I would have liked eira to have been able to care for the baby,but life is not a fairytale
Again very clever adaptation,I very much enjoyed it…

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Profile Image for Paul

Half way through and love it

Such an entertaining and evocative set of interesting stories. Wishing there were more of them.

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Profile Image for J. B. Connor

Great way of presenting

I loved that the authors had the chance to talk about their work. And that the stories were from all over the UK.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Profile Image for Leslie

50/50

The stories were good apart from the tales of Kathleen. I did not enjoy the analysis at the end. The performances were amazing though.

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3 people found this helpful

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Profile Image for Ms. F. Ford

Outstanding, timely folk tale revision

This was so beautiful - a new film story for our times, building on foundations and updating the sense of what constitutes a traditional folk tale. So good - and about time! - to have a folk story which fully humanises and celebrates the complexities of women and our sisterhood, and to have a Black queer voice centred. The story by Liv Little is beautifully told, but I was equally compelled by the excellent discussion that followed, richly giving context to this gem.

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Profile Image for Bennett

strange and compelling tale

good story and very easy listen.
narrator has a good voice and we'll performed.

first book in this podcast series look forward to the rest.

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1 person found this helpful

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Profile Image for the pink pimpess

Outstanding - superb- refreshing

I thought the re write of old well known tales was wonderful and refreshing. Great to hear different takes and angles and to explore old meanings and new meaning .. just superb!
And the discussions at the ending really helped us delve deeper into what each story was exploring.. I loved hearing from the authors..
what a fantastic project..

I do hope they do more of them.. I would listen to this as a podcast for eternity..

So good. So good.

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Profile Image for Bousbous

Fantastic collection of stories.

Great stories and performances I really enjoyed the discussions after each one which added greater depth to each story.

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Profile Image for Jo
  • Jo
  • 26-11-19

retelling and reclaiming

I love fairy and folk tales that are not Disney, because they are a little piece of the past that many people have collectively felt resonate in them enough to keep alive down many decades and generations. These are personal feelings and experiences that are either shared or ring true for different people for different reasons.
There is a strong sense of being connected to the past thru the stories, in a way that is quite different to a moralizing retelling. Disney is a hollow style of retelling which tries to apply a formula or an agenda.
I loved that the writers of each of these retellings added something personal and relatable, a key into the concerns and cares of the people in the past that has let us access some quite stark and coded messages in a deep and tangible way.

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4 people found this helpful

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Profile Image for Mrs Sally Fort

Bedtime stories for today's women

A compelling immersive beautifully written collection of stories that take you to a unique place, time, environment and sensory moment. I was curious to hear the modern written stories and learn about folk tales from around the country. The quality of the story telling felt rich, detailed and beautiful. There were one or two that grabbed me less than the others but in the majority I thought they were exquisite. And then the conversation between author and researcher after the story was a really enjoyable and insightful addition. Looking at other reviews this clearly isn't everyone's cup of tea. But it very much chimes with the women's novels set in other times or places I love.

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