Mythologies around the World

The Little Bookshop
Jan 16
3 min read

We’re only halfway through January but I’m already preparing for next month’s events. February is the month of Valentine’s day (we’re organizing a speed dating, book edition of course) and one of the subjects I love to discover more is mythology. Hence our book club theme Mythologies around the World. Every part of the world has its mythology (although I wish we had more in my country but well). Stories that have been told for generations. Still to this day authors are inspired by mythologies: to write nonfiction, to reimagine or retell the story. Where are all these mythologies coming from and which is the oldest one on earth? Well, that’s a good question. Because how can one know? I did find an interesting video by Crecganford exploring “myths from creation to dragons to death to floods, and explains what they mean and where they come from, their age and origin.”

The first mythology popping to my mind is Greek mythology because I love Madeline Miller’s Circe, Galatea, and The Song of Achilles. And my last Greek read was a reimagination of Medusa by Ayana Gray called I, Medusa. However, I also read quite some stories inspired by African mythologies. Stories that I’ve loved and of course, have in the shop ;) such as Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (YA, West African folklore, some Western fairy tale elements) and Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen (YA, West African mythology). As you all know, we believe representation is important. We all live on this earth and all have different cultures and stories. That's why I also said I'd like to discover more stories from everywhere. So... I took a look at stories all around the world and here are some ideas: