Australian Fairy Tale Society Launches Unique Tale-Themed Member Ezine

Front cover of AFTS Ezine Issue 01; illustration included by A H Watson 1939

Full disclosure: I am intimately involved with this project. I am Editor and Designer, and my incredibly talented fairy-sister Louisa John-Krol (internationally acclaimed indie musician, with a voice like fae bells, who runs a fascinating fairy/fairy tale blog of her own) is my Co-editor, part time Muse, creative life-saver and Rock. We are both Founding Members of the Australian Fairy Tale Society, have a great passion for the work the society is doing and are also committee members.

The Australian Fairy Tale Society (AFTS) has just launched a special new fairy tale ezine (electronic magazine) for registered members, and it's quite different from anything else out there.

The ezine will be published every second month, in between 'Fairy Tale Ring' meetings, where members meet to have tea/coffee and chat about the Tale of the Month; from academic musings, to creative inspiration. Apart from providing members with something unique and exclusive for their membership fees, the ezine aims to support and share the creation of new and excellent fairy tale works, inspired by these meetings. From essays to poems, short stories to music, visual art to plays, interviews to Australian national fairy tale news and much more, the ezine will focus on sharing newly created fairy tale works.

Rumpelstilzchen Valerian Gillar 1947 (not included in ezine)

Members also receive the amazing and wonderful Reading Reference, and Points to Ponder lists every second month, researched by Ring Maiden and qualified fairy tale librarian, Jo Henwood (Co-Founder of the AFTS). They're sent out before the meetings to help attendees prepare for the conversations, to be inspired by the many aspects and considerations with regard to the tale and to support the creation of new works inspired by it. (You can read the lists for Jack and the Beanstalk and The Little Mermaid, without being a member, HERE.)

Rumpekstilzchen Liebermann 1929

Each issue will have the theme of the meeting from the month before (eg July's Tale of the Month was discussing Rumpelstiltskin, so all the content for Issue 01 Aug/Sep was Rumpelstiltskin related), with each issue having many illustrations (both public domain and used by permission), and an analogous color palette inspired by the tale as well. As you might have guessed, the Rumpelstiltskin issue was gold. (There is a limited page preview which non-members can view, of Issue 01, HERE.)

Rumpelstilzchen Thekla Brauer 1910 (not included in ezine)

Here's a hastily taken, sneak peek of a few of the interior pages from the Editor's desktop as we were finishing up the final details, right before publishing a couple of weeks ago:

Even though the ezine is focused on Australian members, there is plenty there for fairy tale folk around the world to enjoy. (The first issue was 32 page chock-full of Rumpelstitskin exploration.) While the society is still experimenting with how to connect long distance members for inclusion in fairy tale ring meetings via online resources, at $25 for a year's membership fee, just receiving 6 issues a year is still a fairy tale bargain, even if networking is, for the moment, limited. (You can read the membership details and choose to join through this page on the AFTS website HERE.)

Rear cover of AFTS Ezine Issue 01
Image included by Walter Crane 1882

And did I mention the publishing opportunity? AFTS members are encouraged to submit their work for inclusion in the ezine. While a certain standard of excellence is expected, and the Submission Guidelines are fairly typical for publishing, the Editorial Troupe also expects to work with newer artists and writers to assist in polishing work they could easily include in a professional portfolio.

Excerpt. from AFTS Ezine Issue 01
Illustration by A J Gaskin 1894

For Australian AFTS members at home or abroad, who are also regular readers of Once Upon A Blog, we hope you are busy thinking about September's Tale of the Month, The Frog King, or Iron Henry, as the Rings begin to meet, and are ready to discuss all aspects of slimy suitors and be inspired by themes of transformation and learning respect...

Note: The Australian Fairy Tale Society is an Australian national registered non-profit organization with pending ROCO (Register of Cultural Organizations) status.