'Gone Girl' author Flynn signed up to rewrite 'Hamlet'

[May 31, 2014]  LONDON (Reuters) - American novelist Gillian Flynn, author of the bestselling "Gone Girl", will write a novel based on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" for a series commissioned by The Hogarth Press employing contemporary writers to reinterpret the Bard's plays.

Hogarth announced this week that Flynn had been recruited for its "Hogarth Shakespeare" project which will launch in 2016, on the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

Hogarth previously announced it had enlisted Margaret Atwood for "The Tempest", Tracy Chevalier for "Othello", Howard Jacobson for "The Merchant of Venice", Jo Nesbo for "Macbeth", Anne Tyler for "The Taming of the Shrew" and Jeanette Winterson for "The Winter’s Tale".

"Hamlet has long been a fascination of mine: murder, betrayal, revenge, deceit, madness ‒ all my favorite things," Flynn is quoted as saying in a news release from Hogarth.

"Add to that some of Shakespeare’s most intriguing, curious characters ‒ from the titular brooding prince to rueful Ophelia ‒ and what (slightly cheeky) writer wouldn’t be tempted to reimagine it?"

The series is being led by Hogarth UK in partnership with Hogarth US. A publication date for Flynn’s contribution to the series has not yet been announced.

(Reporting by Michael Roddy; Editing by Stephen Addison)

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