Faerie News
Happy New Year, fey folk. Here is a pre-Raphaelite reminder of the four seasons, for those of us sweltering in Australia:
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| The Masque of the Four Seasons, 1903, by Walter Crane |
The Victorian Writer - Fairy Tale edition is here!
Writers Victoria caught my pitch for a Fairy Tale edition of 'The Victorian Writer', out this Dec-Jan, featuring my own story as well as articles by The Monash Fairy Tale Salon's wildly brilliant, savvy Dr Rebecca-Anne Do Rozario, and acclaimed fantasy author Dr Kate Forsyth, both members of The Australian Fairy Tale Society.
In the classifieds I've recommended The Midsummer Faerie Rade (Golden Owl Events), The Monash Fairy Tale Salon, The Australian Fairy Tale Society and Myths and Legends Fairy Shop. I've also placed an advertisement, which includes Storytelling Victoria Australia and, again, the aforementioned society & salon, along with visual imagery by these two women from Victoria:
Rachael Hammond is a contemporary Melbourne illustrator and graphic designer, whose online gallery Fantastical Fae Art is highly recommended.
Buda Blossoms (left), also entitled 'Lady in Garden', is an embroidery by Hilda Leviny circa 1830, the original of which is in the historic home in which she resided, Buda House, in Castlemaine, Victoria, South-Eastern Australia.
My pet word 'Taradiddle', which I adopted from The Wheeler Centre (home of Writers Victoria beside our State Library), appears in my published story as well as in my advertisement, along with other rare words being rescued from extinction.
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| The Victorian Writer Fairy Tale edition |
In the classifieds I've recommended The Midsummer Faerie Rade (Golden Owl Events), The Monash Fairy Tale Salon, The Australian Fairy Tale Society and Myths and Legends Fairy Shop. I've also placed an advertisement, which includes Storytelling Victoria Australia and, again, the aforementioned society & salon, along with visual imagery by these two women from Victoria:
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| Fae with Cat by Rachael Hammond |
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| Buda Blossoms by Hilda Leviny |
Rachael Hammond is a contemporary Melbourne illustrator and graphic designer, whose online gallery Fantastical Fae Art is highly recommended.
Buda Blossoms (left), also entitled 'Lady in Garden', is an embroidery by Hilda Leviny circa 1830, the original of which is in the historic home in which she resided, Buda House, in Castlemaine, Victoria, South-Eastern Australia.
My pet word 'Taradiddle', which I adopted from The Wheeler Centre (home of Writers Victoria beside our State Library), appears in my published story as well as in my advertisement, along with other rare words being rescued from extinction.
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| Tarry with a Taradiddle! |
Baba Bobs Her Hair
A contemporary story by wickedly playful fairy tale researcher Dr Rebecca-Anne Do Rozario, spinning on the Russian doyen of bobs, borsch & bones, appeared recently in Issue #5 of Timeless Tales magazine. I've been bobbing to its cheekiness ever since. Simply smashing! No spoilers here (I do love the punchline, or maybe lipstick line), but you might want to review your plans to visit the Mediterranean in the next European Summer. Instead, come to the conference of The Australian Fairy Tale Society on 26th June 2016 and meet the author herself, along with many others in our society and its sibling club, The Monash Fairy Tale Salon. If you want to hear her best Baba Yaga impersonation, you do need to become a patron to download the audio!
Rough Magick
Tegan Webb of The Monash Fairy Tale Salon has published her haunting story entitled "Selkie" in this collection of sensual, strange, betwitching tales, revealing perceptive insights into the nature of amorphous identity, maturity, compromise and the mutable nature of independence, through that classic metaphor of a selkie's pelt. It’s all here in Francesca Lia Block’s anthology, Rough Magick.
The Australian Fairy Tale Society, of which Tegan is a member, has featured an interview with her here
The Australian Fairy Tale Society, of which Tegan is a member, has featured an interview with her here
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| Rough Magick |
Midsummer Faerie Rade 2016
Sunday 17th January 2016
1.30pm - 5.30pm
OPEN TO ALL AGES
THE GATHERING
1.30pm Treasury Gardens
Spring St (near Parliament Station)
Melbourne, Australia
THE RADE
2 - 3pm Through the Melbourne CBD
THE FEAST OF THE FAE FOLK
Fire, Water, Earth and Air
How do stories from the two hemispheres fuse the elements? In a day of storytelling workshops and performances, international storytellers CHRISTINE WILLISON from WALES and CADU CINELLI from BRAZIL offer complimentary sessions.
TELL A STORY: Storytellers attending will be invited to take to the floor and share a tale. COST: $25 or $20 for members of Storytelling Australia Victoria.
Book online or ring the Gallery: 5320 5858
The Story Door is open
Kate Lawrence is a gifted facilitator, Vice President of Storytelling Australia Victoria, compelling storyteller and one of the most community-minded women I've ever known. Whilst Kate does not deal so much in fairy tales as personal stories, I recommend her here at our fairy blog for all the aforementioned reasons and because anyone who pictures a tree door like this (below) might very well have a fairy living near: a cheeky, kindly hob, who awaits you with a listening ear...
Info at Story Wise
Info at Story Wise
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| The Story Door |
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| Story Wise - courtesy of Kate Lawrence |
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| Into the Bush - Its Beauty and Its Terror |
The Australian Fairy Tale Society 2016 conference
The Australian Fairy Tale Society's Call for Presentations closes 29th January 2016, with the conference itself to be held on Sunday 26th June 2016.
‘Into the Woods,’ is a phrase linked to the fairy tale genre. It conjures all manner of fairy tale images, such as roguish wolves waiting behind trees and lost children stumbling upon gingerbread houses.
But how does it translate into the Australian fairy tale tradition? For our third annual conference, we will be exploring what happens when we venture… ‘Into the Bush.’ Australian fairy tales reflect many of the realities of the bush, while also reimagining it as a space of magic and mystery. Whether depicted as real or otherworldly, the bush always encompasses duality – it is a place of both beauty and terror.
We are accepting proposals for storytelling performances, musical performances, academic papers, and creative readings. We would also love to hear from artists wishing to display and/or sell their works at the conference:
When: Sunday, 26 June 2016
Where: Glen Eira Town Hall, Caulfield, VIC, 3162.
Academic papers will be max 20 min. Performances & readings max 15 min. All with an option of 10 additional min question time.
Please email your proposal of no more than 200 words to austfairytales@gmail.com by 5pm Friday January 29, 2016.
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Above info is from Dr Belinda Calderone,
co-leader of The Monash Fairy Tale Salon
and president of The Australian Fairy Tale Society.
co-leader of The Monash Fairy Tale Salon
and president of The Australian Fairy Tale Society.
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| A tree by Arthur Rackham |
