Myths and Heroes in Creative Writing - Re-Reading and Remaking

Myths and Heroes in Creative Writing: Re-reading and Remaking offers a comprehensive overview of myth throughout history. Exploring a variety of forms, Adrian May provides a framework for the practice and process of writing myths.

List of contents

Acknowledgements
Part One: Introductory
Preface: The Mythic Wanderer
1. The Errant Way
2. The Human Pattern
Part Two: The Narrow Hero
3. Big Heroes Reduced
4. Portability: Genre; Wilderness
5. Writers not Wrong
Part Three: Ante-heroes
6. Ante, Mock, Anti
7. The Vanishing Grail
8. How to Disappear
9. Tarot and Tao
Part Four: Mythic alternatives
10. Decline of Folly
11. Confronting the hero-monster
12. Supernatural alternatives
Part Five: Postscripts
13. Ceremonies of Innocence
14. Ritual and Initiation
Index

About the author

Adrian May is Community Fellow and former Deputy Director of Creative Writing at the University of Essex, UK. He is the author of three previous books about creativity: Myth and Creative Writing (2011), The Magic of Writing (2018), Tradition in Creative Writing (2021) and Boot Sale Harvest (non-fiction, 2023). He has also published several collections of poems and songs, including Full Fathom Folk (2022) and Grail Island (2025), the latter inspired by some of the material in this book.

Product details

• Authors: Adrian May
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 04.09.2025
• EAN: 9781041033332
• ISBN: 978-1-0-4103333-2
• No. of pages: 130
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Non-fiction book > Art, literature > Literature: general, reference works; Literary studies: general, Creative writing & creative writing guides, Creative writing and creative writing guides, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Writing / General, Folklore studies / Study of myth