#WritersCoffeeClub - Have you ever written a work that was a retelling of another work?
That's basically all I do! 😁 I started out writing #fanfic, and while not all of fanfic is retelling, I especially enjoyed writing pastfic where I'd retell pre-canon (or mid-canon) events with new details and from different angles. I do the same with #HistoricalFiction where I reimagine specific historical events (the life of Queen Soseono 2,000 years ago, or how WWII spy Virginia Hall met her husband) or come up with characters and events that zoom in on a generality (lesbian palace workers) or mystery (the disappearance of an ancient princess from the records).
I've also written two #transfem retellings of the Northern Wei-era classic #Mulan, one in narrative verse and one in prose fiction. If you've been following along you know I am obsessed by this idea, and if you read the original Ballad of Mulan you may understand why--my own translation is offered here. https://ljwrites.blog/posts/ballad-of-mulan/ I've also written a retelling of a war in ancient China that started over mulberry trees, focusing on a lesbian love story between two peasants caught on different sides of the border.
