Introducing "Tiny Donkey" and the Brief Fairy Tale Essay

A donkey prince learns to play the flute and find happiness in “The Little Donkey.” by the amazing Andrea Dezsö

There's a new fairy tale journal in town! Fairy Tale Review - the respected literary fairy tale journal that publishes yearly - is supporting the launch of this new undergraduate journal, which invites people from all over to contribute.

From Fairy Tale Review:

Tiny Donkey: Brief Essays from FairylandWe are thrilled to announce the launch of Tiny Donkey, an undergraduate journal of short-form fairy tale nonfiction. The journal is the result of collaboration between Fairy Tale Review editorial assistant Wren Awry,Fairy Tale Review founder Kate Bernheimer, and Fairy Tale ReviewManaging Editor Joel Hans. 

Tiny Donkey will publish short essays (up to 400 words in length) that explore fairy tales through scholarly, personal and cultural lenses. 

We are incredibly excited to give undergraduate writers the opportunity to explore their love of fairy tales in a unique form. Through Tiny Donkey, we hope foster the next generation of fairy-tale writers, scholars, and educators—the very same kinds of people who have made Fairy Tale Review what it is today, and will continue to manipulate the contemporary fairy tale into wildly innovative forms.

And from Tiny Donkey itself, there is this information:

Donkey Prince by Paul Hey

You can write Tiny Donkey essays from a lot of different angles (our first three posts include a piece that analyzes a film in relation to Bluebeard, one that ties in wolf re-introduction in New Mexico to wolf tropes in fairy tales, and a personal essay about hollow mountains, Jack Tales and the coal industry in Appalachia). You might come up with an entirely new idea, or turn a class paper in to a polished micro-essay. We’re open to challenging and unique form and content, just get in touch!

Sounds pretty wonderful, doesn't it? I look forward to seeing future fairy tale essay innovations.

And if you're asking "why Tiny Donkey?" I can tell you that Tiny Donkey is an official off-shoot of Fairy Tale Review, which may give well read fairy tale readers a clue... (The particular donkey I believe they are referring to is a prince who is yet to come into his own.)

No matter what "skin" you are currently in, this journal gives you the opportunity to see what's really inside.

If you're looking for inspiration, checking out the Fairy Tale Review's mini-blog feature, Fairy Tale Files, which bring eclectic fairy tale related ideas together on a theme. They're like the written version of mini mind maps and are great for getting your creative juices pumping.

Good luck fairy tale writers!

Note: Did you know Angela Carter wrote a version of Tiny Donkey for children? It's a little illustrated book (now out of print of course).