Faerie News

Dear Fey Friends,

First day of Spring,

a fairy died.

🦋 
Fey Queen 

Anne Atkins flew 

from this mortal realm. 🌷

Anne opened Wonderwings Fairy Shop - first fairy shop in the world - 1980s in Richmond. 🧜🏿‍♂️🧜‍♀️She followed up with its more raucous, carnival sibling, Wonderwings Fairground. 🎪Countless similar venues opened around the globe by her inspiration, most closely and enduringly 

Myths & Legends in Gisborne 

with Wonderwings fairy Dee. 🦋

Anne was a patron and collaborator across ethereal arts, from music to sculpture. Many of us learned oral fairytale storytelling from Vic’s storytelling guild founder Nell Bell at Wonderwings. 

A glass artist herself, Anne made exquisite wands. 🌟

Her legacy includes eco-mythos, with freshly gathered eucalyptus leaves strewn in the story garden. 

In addition to catering for youngsters, there were also adult sessions, steeped in mythology and respect for diversity. 📘🦋

🦋

She is honoured in the anthology South of the Sun: Australian fairy tales for the 21st century.

Here is an earlier tribute I wrote at a Wonderwings reunion

More pics of beloved Anne across decades...

Fey Anne, you conjured Muses, embraced eccentricity, revelled in whimsy, kindness, passion, ebullience, glee; and all the way to Fairyland, the flowers know you.

 

Anne & Nigel at our wedding 1993

🦋

🦋

Anne Atkins
at Wonderwings Fairy Picnic

Anne Atkins 

🦋

🦋Fairy Funeral: 

Sunday 11th September 2022

          3pm 🦋

Collingwood Children's Farm / Abbotsford Convent 

Fairies of all ages & cultures welcome🦋

Anne Atkins at Midsummer Faerie Rade

photo by Louisa John-Krol
blue tree roses by Rachael Hammond
🦋

 

Faerie News

Happy Wintering

to Southern Hemisphere friends. 

And to Northerners, 

Happy Summer ye all, fey darlings! 

Come join us at Bendigo Library for

Love of the Fey

A weeklong exhibition by Lorena Carrington
culminating in an event Thursday 30th June,
storytelling & songs by Louisa John-Krol
with guest readings, book chats, 
face painting & costumes!
Dress as your most enchanting selves... 

Celebrating our intercultural, illustrated anthology

South of the Sun: Australian fairy tales for the 21st century

(Australian Fairy Tale Society & Serenity Press)

Special guests: 

Fairy Moss by Lorena Carrington

Carmel Bird
Jenni Heinrich
Thang Dac Luong

Hosts:

Faerie Bard 

Louisa John-Krol* 

& Photographic Illustrator 

Lorena Carrington 

both awardees of the national Australian Fairy Tale Award 

in 2020 and 2021 respectively. 

*Louisa being your mandolin-mad Fae of this blog. 

Squeeeee!

Please register attendance here

Nearly booked out!

About each session:

1) Afternoon storytelling & songs for 8-12 year-olds 

Tween, Teen & Keen, 2pm - 3pm

More info at Eventbrite

In between, enjoy the exhibition by our cover artist Lorena Carrington, 

and the screen loop of other illustrators involved,

or meet & greet, stroll, sip a tummy warmer, or snuggle with a book!

2) Early Evening music, storytelling, readings, Q&A for grownups: 

Timely & Timeless: 5:30pm - 6:30pm

More info at Eventbrite

Storytelling, Art, Music, Readings, Book Chats, Costume Prizes!