Lit Bites – Modern retellings of classic literature. “All the genius. Half the scrolling.”

The intention here is to introduce the classics to young readers while using a language they might use. As an introduction, the hope is to motivate them to want to explore the original and help them start appreciating the possibility of a larger language of expression. This is partly inspired by the rewritings of Charles and Mary Lamb: eg. “Tales from Shakespeare”.

AND I NEED YOUR HELP! (See questions below, I would really love your answers too. them!)

As many of you know, I am an obsessive reader. Due to the blessing of having some great friends who are equally obsessed and enamoured with language, I have the frequent opportunity to share reflections on what we read.

This past year of teaching, mostly Gen Z students, I’ve started loving their unique language; and it is very unique to my more literal sensibilities, or so I thought.

I recently re-devoured all of Shakespeare’s plays and started hearing (in my head) how the drama might be embraced by the very emotive Gen Z reader. Unbeknownst to them, I started getting my students to help me learn more Gen-Z-speak. Which, I believe they may call Poetcore, at least in relations to verse (poetry, Shakespeare, etc…). I won’t lie, I used one of Gen Z’s ubiquitous tools (Ai) to gather more of their vernacular and ‘scrape’ out a better understanding of it.

The ongoing result is that I’m writing Gen Z versions of Shakespeare’s plays (other classic authors will follow) and just got a real kick out of it. It reminded me of how hard it was to understand Shakespeare’s language when I was in high school, and how much I came to love it when the teachers explained the meanings of his word symphonies with examples from our Gen X experiences.

So, as I said, I could really use your help with a few things…

1. Gemini suggests I post these stories at a variety of different times, depending on the medium (eg. video on TikTok @ 9am on Tuesday or Wednesday) and/or the platform (eg. Substack @ 8 or 9pm on Sunday – “Scary scrolling” hour). What time/day(s) do you think I should post them here on WordPress, in written form?
2. Do you, my dear readers/subscribers/followers have any other classic authors you think I should focus on next? Please let me know in the comments.
3. I used Chat GPT to conjure up a series title Gen Z “would” like (according to AI). It gave me this: “Poetcore Shakespeare: The Bard for Gen Z“. What do you think about it and could you please ask any Gen Z-ers you may know for some feedback?

I am deeply appreciative for any feedback you have…