To be perfectly honest when I first was introduced to the 1,000-year old epic tale Beowulf in high school I was not a fan, but as they say it grew on me over the years. This year, the writer Maria Dahvana Headley’s released an updated translation of the monster classic. Long a fan of Grendel and his mother, she wrote The Mere Wife in 2018, a precursor to her new translation of the original story, which uses modern day slang to make the story more accessible.

The literary magazine Grand Journal is celebrating this work with an epic 25 day reading, featuring a wide range creative, each of whom will share part of the story in Zoom-captured readings. On the last day, December 25th, all of the videos will be presented in a single stream. Starting on December 1st, with drag queen Miz Cracker, who begins reading with a its original Old English, the series includes readings by Laurie Anderson, Sara Quin, Alan Cumming, Justin Vivian Bond, Neil Gaiman and many more.