AFTS 'Sleeping Beauty' Bumper Issue Is Out

A lot of work went into this issue, which, adding up the hours, took approximately two-plus very solid months (including working with a variety of lovely writers and artists), to edit, source, design, produce and publish. With an effort at being as inclusive as possible (especially due to being later than originally planned) and keeping a high standard for this last issue that our Fairy Tale News Hound will be involved with (at least for a while), this issue turned out to be a 'bumper' - coming in at 60 pages. (Thank goodness there was a great proofing team helping finesse all the text and checking the final layouts!)

Please find the wonderful variety of contents listed below (available for current Australian Fairy Tale Society members only - new sign-ups this week also eligible):

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• Roundtable Discussion on Sleeping Beauty: 'Three Good Fairies on Roses, Thorns & Sleeping' - with 3 female writers, Belinda Calderone, Rebecca-Anne Do Rozario and Kate Forsyth  (all of whom did their PHDs in fairy tale studies)
• 'Sleeping Kingdom, Waking Beauty' - a multimedia bardic exploration of Sleeping Beauty
• a review of the show by Margaret McKay
• a retrospective by creator & performer Reilly McCarron - from seed to stage
• 'Sundown' - a new silhouette art by Spike Deane
• 'The Spindle' - an article on spinning, spindles and yarn from Melissa Rose Tonkin
• 'Re-Spin' by Graham Ross - a transcript from an oral retelling of a revamped Sleeping Beauty
• 'Slumber Sweet Maids' - a Sleeping Beauty wallpaper pattern by Kathleen Jennings
• 'Spinning the Legend of Briar Rose & the Pre-Raphaelites' - interview with Kate Forsyth, discussing her process of researching and writing her new novel 'Beauty in Thorns'
• 'Spinning A Yarn - Sleeping Beauty & Anthrax' - AMA medical article by Jason Giacomel MBBS (reprinted with permission)
• 'The Youngest Serf' - a wonderfully fun short story with a unique perspective on Sleeping Beauty (and other fairy tales princess problems) by Carla Billinghurst
• 'Sleeping Kingdom, Waking Beauty' - script excerpts and audio preview (embedded MP3)
• 'The Medic' a sci-fi Sleeping Beauty short story by Patsy Poppenbeek
• 'Sleeping Beauty' illustration by Erin-Claire Barrow, with an atypical princess
• 'The Needle & the Spoon' - a modern short fiction on the fairy tale, inspired by true events
• 2017 AFTS Annual Conference Program and highlights to look forward to
• Ripples From the Rings - local fairy tale monthly meeting summaries from around Australia
• 'Prick' - an exclusive chapter preview of 'Beauty in Thorns' by Kate Forsyth (to be published July 2017 in Australia)
• Announcements, Australian fairy tale calendar, AFTS member news & achievements
• Editorial fairy tale comic
• Plus a wide variety of Sleeping Beauty-related art and excerpts of recommended works

NB: The ezine, in PDF format, is digital only and not print resolution, due to restrictions on public domain image printing, and in an effort to keep the file as small as possible. Download from the members only, password protected link (sent to members via email after sign-up) is recommended for optimal viewing and to enable playing of embedded audio files.

The announcements also include the resignation notice of our Fairy Tale News Hound from her AFTS duties, including the ezine. (See below.) It was a very difficult decision to take a step back, especially with regard to this unique fairy tale focused magazine, but she felt it was personally necessary to do so at this time. We can vouch for the astonishing and unique pool of talent and expertise the Australian Fairy Tale Society has, and can testify that each one of the members our News Hound has worked with over the past eight to nine months (over four issues), has been a pleasure to work with in their enthusiasm and reach for excellence.

The ezine allows members of the AFTS the exclusive opportunity to submit new fairy tale works, fiction and non, visual and audio, for possible publication in the ezine (which is distributed to all members nationwide and overseas). We would love to see this initiative continue.

If you have enjoyed past issues, would like to see more (upcoming fairy tale themes are: Goose Girl, Aladdin, The Handless Maiden, Snow White, Wild Swans/Six Ravens, The Firebird) and could offer some help, please contact the AFTS at austfairytales@gmail.com.

Image above is by Léon Bakst from his Sleeping Beauty panel commission
'The aged king pleads with the good fairy..."

We love that Bakst used one of two interesting details Perrault's text includes, which are usually forgotten... (see below).

     When the accident happened to the princess, the good fairy who had saved her life by condemning her to sleep a hundred years was in the kingdom of Mataquin, twelve thousand leagues away. She was instantly warned of it, however, by a little dwarf who had a pair of seven-league boots, which are boots that enable one to cover seven leagues at a single step. The fairy set off at once, and within an hour her chariot of fire, drawn by dragons, was seen approaching.
     The king handed her down from her chariot, and she approved of all that he had done. But being gifted with great powers of foresight, she bethought herself that when the princess came to be awakened, she would be much distressed to find herself all alone in the old castle... 

- Charles Perrault 'The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood'