Black Fairy Tales & Folktales Matter - Useful Resources (a growing list)

ABC's Once Upon A Time Rapunzel in S3:14, The Tower, played by Alexandra Metz

This resource list is just a place to start and will be added to as we can manage. Suggestions for any category below (or for adding more categories) are welcome!

ONLINE ARTICLES:

• These Stories Are Ours, Too: Writing Black Characters into Fairy Tales by L.L. McKinney
• Not Until We Get A Turn: Retellings, Tropes, and Who Gets To Tell Stories by Kalynn Bayron
• Black Stories Matter (resources, books, ways to be an advocate) by Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic

BOOKS (tale collections):

• Blackberry Blue: And Other Fairy Tales by Jamila Gavin
• Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales by Virginia Hamilton
• The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton
• The Annotated African American Folktales (The Annotated Books) edited by Henry Louis Gates and Maria Tatar

BOOKS (Scholarship):

                                          

• Fairy Tale TV by Jill Terry Rudy and Pauline Greenhill (2020)
• Re-Orienting the Fairy Tale: Contemporary Adaptations across Cultures (Series in Fairy-Tale Studies) edited by Editors Mayako Murai and Luciana Cardi (2020)

ONLINE ARTICLES (Scholarship):

• Seeing White: Children of Color and the Disney Fairy Tale Princess by Dorothy L. Hurley (link to downloadable PDF)
• Moving Beyond Grimm’s Fairytales for Representations of Black and White:Diversity as an Integral Component of quality Provision in Early ChildhoodEducation by Dr Maria O’ Dwyer (link to downloadable PDF) 
• Enchanting the Masses: Fairy Tale Dystopias and Allegorical Diversity by Jill Coste (abstract only)
• From Representation to Participation: Rethinking the Intercultural Educational Approach to Folktales by Annette de Bruijn (on reading & teaching multicultural fairy tales to early elementary children)

BOOKS (Fiction):

• Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi (genre - literature, magical realism - Snow White, Goblin Market & more)
• Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron (genre - fantasy/UF, Cinderella, princess culture)
• A Blade So Black by A. A. McKinney (genre - fantasy/UF, Alice in Wonderland)
• Redemption in Indigo: A Novel by Karen Lord (genre - fantasy, magic realism, Bluebeard & Beauty and the Beast)

BOOKS (picture books):

• Freedom Child of the Sea by Richardo Keens-Douglas, illustrated by Julia Gukova - though it's a picture book, we recommended it for everyone

• Rachel Isadora 's fairy tale retellings - The Fisherman and His Wife, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Rapunzel, The Princess and the Pea, Hansel & Gretel

• Once Upon A World Collection (board books by various authors & artists): Rapunzel, Cinderella, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea 

              

• Fairy Tales by Jane Ray (illustrator) and Berlie Doherty (diverse cultural characters and settings for familiar tales)
• Mufaro's Beautiful Daughter by John Steptoe

GRAPHIC NOVELS/COMICS:

• The Girl Who Married A Skull: And Other African Stories (Cautionary Fables & Fairy Tales 1) by Mary Cagle, Kel McDonald (Editor), Kate Ashwin (Editor), & 15 more

• Fred H. Crump Jr (Main FT printings: 1989- 91, 2007-10) Retold & Illustrated Fairy Tales and classic stories with POC Main Characters - over 40 titles, now out of print (NB: created specifically for children of color by Crump, a black comic artist, and teacher) A collection of book covers can be seen HERE.

FILM/TV:

• HBO's Happily Ever After: Tales for Every Child series (1995-2000) - world-famous fairy tales told with diverse characters and settings

• Emerald City (NBC 1 season - 2017 - based on The Wizard of Oz)
• The Princess and the Frog (Disney 2009)

• Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (Disney 1997, live-action remake of stage-play, starring Brandy and Whitney Houston)
• The Wiz (1978 musical movie Wizard of Oz, starring Diana Ross)
• The Wiz Live (2015 starring Shanice Williams, Queen Latifah)

UPCOMING:

          

Come Away official poster; Halle Bailey as Disney's new Ariel (pic was Disney approved for announcement)

• Come Away (due for release Dec 2020, directed by Brenda Chapman, starring David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Angeline Jolie; Alice in Wonderland & Peter Pan) Trailer available to view HERE.
• The Little Mermaid (Disney's live-action remake of their animated classic, due for release July 2021, starring Halle Bailey)
  

FAIRY TALE ARTISTS TO KNOW:

• Lachanda Gartistry with Creative Soul Photography - Black Princess Portraits

OTHER ART RESOURCES:

• Racebentdisney.tumblr.com - not recently updated but still a good resource, Tumblr blog includes a wide range of artist interpretations, POC actors in traditionally white Disney roles and more.

FAIRY TALE/FOLKTALE AUTHORS TO KNOW:

• Helen Oyeyemi (Mr. Fox, What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, Boy, Snow, Bird, Gingerbread: A Novel)
• John Steptoe (Mufaro's Beautiful Daughter)
• Virginia Hamilton (collections of African American Tales)
• Nalo Hopkinson (Brown Girl in the Ring, Skin Folk, Sister Mine, multi-award-winning folklore/fantasy author)

Coming Soon: A Virtual Fairy Tale Salon with Timeless Tales Editor Tahlia Kirk

Written by Tahlia Kirk

Spend an evening chatting about your favorite fairy tale at the Storied Imaginarium's virtual fairy tale salon on November 6 (Nov 7 for Australia).

We're evoking the elegant Parisian salon of 17th century France, when wealthy women hosted gatherings in their living rooms to discuss literature and write stories. One of the most popular parlor games played at these salons was to retell classic folktales. Storytellers would use fanciful language of fairy tales to slyly slip rebellious commentary on aristocratic culture past the court's censors. I hope to share some of my favorite counter-culture tales with you and talk about what makes a retelling resonate. While this is more of a meeting-of-minds than a formal writing workshop, I think all fans of the magical and whimsical will enjoy our time together. 

Seats are limited, so sign up now to save your spot!

(Pic is my envisioning of the type of outfit one might wear to a modern literary salon 😅)

"The Wound and The Gift" - A Film Screening @Home MAY 16, 2020 w/Illustrations by Victo Ngai

HAPPENING TODAY!!

A special film suitable for all ages, about an animal rescue program inspired by an ancient Japanese fable of a wounded crane.

From artist and illustrator Victo Ngai (all images in this post are by her):

Verified

I created artwork for a very special project back in 2014 called “The Wound and The gift” - a documentary exploring the relationship between animals and humans directed by Linda Hoaglund and narrated by Vanessa Redgrave. 

The narrative spine of the film is an animated ancient Japanese Fable about a wounded crane, saved by a couple of peasants, and attempts to express her gratitude with a gift. Scenes from the folklore are woven into real-life footage of rescued animals. As the fable and the film unfold, the question begs to be asked is - “who is saving who?” 

The @nikkeimuseum in Vancouver is hosting an online screen of the film throughout this week with a Zoom Q&A session this Sat (May 16). 

The link to the tickets ($5 suggested donation) is (below), 100% of the sales will benefit the museum’s activities. Please spread the word!

LINK:

Film screening @Home - The Wound and The Gift

by Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre

Here is the lovely trailer with sneak peeks of how the folktale and illustrations are woven in:

The Wound and the Gift - Trailer from Linda Hoaglund on Vimeo.

It's suitable for ALL ages (no worrisome footage to be concerned about!) and has lovely reviews regarding the cinematography, animation and the weaving together of stories. Here's one review, to give you an idea of the tone and how the project and folktale are woven together:

Saw this... at the Vancouver Film Festival, and it is spectacular. The cinematography is what drew me in from the trailer and I was not disappointed, and the stories unfold within the animated story of the Crane perfectly. And I really appreciated that it wasn't cluttered with information and stats. The film breathes slowly and elegantly. Highly recommended. (review by Saints Rescue)

About this Event

Film: Available for viewing at your leisure online May 9-17, 2020

Meet the director Linda Hoaglund online presentation of stunning still images from filming in beautiful Hokkaido, and a moderated Q&A session.

Saturday, May 16, 2pm PST | 5pm EST

The Wound and The Gift is a film about the animal rescue inspired by ancient Japanese fable about a wounded crane, saved by peasants, that attempts to express her gratitude with a gift - 鶴の恩返し. The fable is illustrated by Victo Ngai. The film is suitable for viewers of all ages. (83 minutes).

The film will be available on Vimeo, and the talk will be hosted on Zoom. 

Official Website: http://www.thewoundandthegift.com/

Director: Linda Hoaglund

Narrator: Vanessa Redgrave

Ceinematographer: Kirsten Johnson

Animation Artist: Victo Ngai

Editor: William Lehman

Music: Satoshi Takeishi & Shoko Nagai

Animation: Joe Wu

Producer: Hashimoto Yoshiko & Maryanne Culpepper

Assistant Director: Takaaki Okada

See HERE for full illustrations, some storyboards & an animated scene preview.

Timeless Tales Release Hades & Persephone Collection

The wait is over! Timeless Tales Magazine is proud to present nine transformative twists about Hades & Persephone. From darkly haunting to quirkily humorous, there's something for everyone in this issue. Read the entire collection HERE.

Here are a few highlights showcasing how our writers reinvented this underworldly myth:

• "On the Subject of Seeds": This story reverses the characters' roles and turns Persephone from helpless victim to the leader of the chase.
• "The Mysteries of Eleusis": A young grad student discovers evidence that challenges everything the world thought they knew about Persephone's myth. But will historians take a folklorist seriously?
• "The Tenth Planet": After years of isolation, the planet Persephone is pulled into Pluto's orbit and experiences the searing heat of the sun for the first time.

Here's a look at some of the covers:

 

These are just a few of the adventures awaiting you inside our latest issue. Enjoy the read and let us know which piece is your favorite!

"Snow White, Rose Red and Other Tales of Kind Young Women" - Online Launch Party May 1st 6pm AEST (Friday Australia/Thursday US)

If you're a longtime reader you know that we in the Fairy Tale Newsroom are longtime fans of Australian fairy tale writer Kate Forsyth, who has created an amazing collection of historical novels with specific fairy tales at their center [and we personally adore The Rebirth of Rapunzel: A Mythic Biography of the Maiden in the Tower (2016), which explores the Rapunzel tale-type throughout history and includes all sorts of wonderful creative expressions, as well as a research-based exegesis!]. It's also no secret that we are continually drawn to the magic photographic illustrations of Australian artist Lorena Carrington, so it's a given that any collaboration between these two magical women is a must for us - and we're about to be treated with their third!

The third book of the Long Lost Fairy Tales Collection, a collaborative series by Australian writer Kate Forsyth and Australian artist Lorena Carrington, is going to have an online book launch that anyone from around the world can attend!

The book is titled Snow White, Rose Red and Other Tales of Kind Young Women.

The previous two in the popular series are:

• Vasilisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women
• The Buried Moon and Other Tales of Bright Young Women

All are available through Serenity Press.

We've included a small selection of popular time zone, times below to give you a start on figuring out how to block it into your calendar.
Australian Eastern Standard Time - 6pm FRIDAY night
USA PST (Pacific Standard Time) - 1am FRIDAY early morning (late THURS.)
USA EST (Eastern Standard Time) - 4am FRIDAY super early
UK London Time - 9am FRIDAY
Moscow, Russia Time - 12pm (noon) FRIDAY

YOU CAN JOIN THE LAUNCH VIA FACEBOOK
(click image or link below):

Online link:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2345942522374686/

OR MAKE YOUR WAY STRAIGHT TO THE ZOOM ROOM AT THE SCHEDULED TIME HERE
(no Facebook required! Click image or link below)::

Online link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7588848380

Publisher's book description:

An enchanting collection of little known fairy tales about young women who prevail because of their kindness and compassion.Snow-White & Rose Red save an enchanted bear from an ungrateful goblin Marushka is sent to find strawberries in the snow by her cruel step-sister but wins the help of the Twelve Months Ailsa climbs Mischanter Mountain to rescue her sister, armed with nothing more than her sewing kit and her parents’ blessing Reinhilda outwits a witch and saves her sweetheart.A kind henwife helps Morag find a home for her family with the help of a magic pot. Agnes and a young Romany woman together overcome the curse of an enchanted cupBrigid honours a promise she made, even though it takes her to theunderworld and back.With an introduction by Isobelle Carmody, Snow White, Rose Red & Other Tales of Kind Young Women contains tales fromGermany, Slovenia, Ireland and the Scottish Travellers.It will transform the way you think about fairy tales.

And here is a lovely sneak peek inside the covers!




Can you guess which fairy tales Kate and Lorena are retelling in this volume?
Hope to see some of you Friday at the launch!
(Or Thursday - whatever day it will be where you are!)
*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
A small selection of the many fairy tale books by Kate Forsyth:

 Fairy tale art - in book form! - by artist Lorena Carrington: