5x15: Jeanette Winterson, Tabernacle

Jeanette Winterson is one of our finest writers. She writes with warmth, but also complete honesty, laying bare home truths unflinchingly. Since her 1985 debut Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, the novelist has won the Whitbread Prize, the E.M. Forster Award and the Cannes Prix d'Argent for works such as Sexing The Cherry, The Passion, Written on the Body and The PowerBook.
On October 1, Winterson will be on hand to perform 'The Gap of Time'. Her latest project has been to rework Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, transforming it into a deeply personal, deeply emotional modern work. The play tells the story of King Leontes and his jealousy over his wife Hermione's suspected infidelity. It is known as one of Shakespeare's 'problems', because of the way it blends comedy and tragedy and its16 year span.
Winterson has said that her work is full of 'Cover Versions', that she likes to rework old stories in new ways, and tease out some new emphasis or narrative strand. Her version of The Winter's Tale is set between London and 'New Bohemia', in 2008. We can expect her to pick up on Shakespeare's theme of time, jealousy and childhood, whilst adding modern ideas of gender, technology and sexual identity.