--- description: Karen Cushman's novel follows a clever teenager in the thirteenth century title: Lena Dunham to Adapt 'Catherine, Called Birdy' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb9007144222e73c/6987603b35ba6f7408c04633/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Lena Dunham to Adapt YA Novel _Catherine, Called Birdy_  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 12, 2014 4:15 PM CUT  Lena Dunham visits "The View," on Sept. 30, 2014. Lena Dunham visits "The View," on Sept. 30, 2014.Lou Rocco—ABC/Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 12, 2014 4:15 PM CUT Corpus bones! [_Girls_ creator and](http://time.com/3445018/lena-dunham-not-that-kind-of-girl-rape-essay/ "undefined") [author](http://time.com/3425759/lena-dunham-a-generations-gutsy-ambitious-voice/ "undefined") Lena Dunham is [working on a film adaptation](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/11/lena-dunham-catherine-called-birdy%5Fn%5F5969088.html "undefined") of Karen Cushman’s award-winning 1994 young-adult novel _Catherine, Called Birdy._ Dunham, who just released her debut essay collection [_Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned”_](http://time.com/3425759/lena-dunham-a-generations-gutsy-ambitious-voice/ "undefined"), announced the project on Friday at the _New Yorker_ Festival, the _Huffington Post_ reports. “This is actually my first time talking about it publicly,” Dunham said at the event. “I’m very excited about it. I’m not sure when it’ll happen, but I’m in the process of \[working on it\].” The book follows a thirteenth-century teenager who finds clever ways to scare off the unsuitable suitors her father tries to marry her off to. \[[_Huffington Post_](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/11/lena-dunham-catherine-called-birdy%5Fn%5F5969088.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3499996/lena-dunham-catherine-called-birdy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3499996/lena-dunham-catherine-called-birdy/"},"headline":"Lena Dunham to Adapt YA Novel Catherine, Called Birdy","datePublished":"2014-10-12T16:15:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:44:10.253Z","description":"Karen Cushman's novel follows a clever teenager in the thirteenth century","url":"https://time.com/3499996/lena-dunham-catherine-called-birdy/","keywords":["Books","lena dunham"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb9007144222e73c/6987603b35ba6f7408c04633/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb9007144222e73c/6987603b35ba6f7408c04633/lena-dunham.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ABC's \"The View\" - Season 18","caption":"ABC's \"The View\" - Season 18","creditText":"Lou Rocco—ABC/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3499996/lena-dunham-catherine-called-birdy/","name":"Lena Dunham to Adapt YA Novel Catherine, Called Birdy"}}]}] ```