Re-imagining Shakespeare plays for the modern age is part of a new project from Hogarth, Random House publishers with novelists Anne Tyler and Jeanette Winterson already signed up to take part. Anne Tyler will be working on the interpretation of  The Taming of the Shrew  and Jeanette  Winterson will tackle The Winter’s Tale.

Launching in 2016 The Hogarth Shakespeare programme will coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and a range of novelists will give their own take on the great bard’s world-famous plays. There will be additional authors as the project progresses.

Jeanette Winterson is quoted as saying: “All of us have talismanic texts that we have carried around and that carry us around. I have worked with The Winter’s Tale in many disguises for many years. This is a brilliant opportunity to work with it in its own right. And I love cover versions.”