In Memorium: Miyoko Matsutani - Thank You For All The Tales

On February 28th, 2015, one of Japan's leading folktale scholars, collectors and writers, passed away. We lost a fairy tale hero that day  - a woman who made it her mission to preserve the folktales of Japan before they were lost to memory - and whether you know her name or not, we fairy tale folk have benefitted greatly from her life's work. I feel it's only right that I pay tribute to her memory and help her name be remembered.

She began writing fairy tales after graduating high school and wrote over 300 books (picture books, children's and juvenile literature) and was the first Japanese author to make the Hans Christian Andersen honor list (Award of Excellence) for Taro the Dragon Boy and won numerous awards before and since. A committed peace activist, her original works often used themes of war and peace.

She was also the head of, what I've seen described as "a folklore laboratory" which, although is probably only due to a weird translation, sounds awesome. (The real name of the organization is The Miyoko Matsutani Folklore Research Center.) Matsutani herself traveled all over Japan collecting folktales from ancient storytellers, as well as being a storyteller herself - something which, she seems to have done right up till she passed away. She has been instrumental in reviving the fading practice and art of storytelling in Japan, which diminished greatly when the Industrial Age began. Due to her traveling, storytelling, publishing and working with community centers, women's groups, schools and more, the practice is coming back, and although she alone can't take credit for it, she has been one of the key instruments in making that happen.

Her work hasn't been restricted to Japanese fairy tales and folktales either. She worked with Asian tales in general (in addition to her Japanese focus), publishing retellings of Chinese tales and fables as well as Korean, Vietnamese, Philippine, Indonesian and World Folklore collections. (Busy lady!)

Cover by Piotr Fąfrowicz

Here's a little summary extract on her scholarship contribution, from Books of Japan:

As head of the Miyoko Matsutani Folklore Research Center she collects and retells folktales from throughout Japan, and her Gendai minwa ko (Thoughts on Modern Folklore; 12 volumes) has earned praise for its compilation of folklore from the Meiji period (1868–1912) on. She is one of the true giants of contemporary children's literature in Japan, and her complete works have been published twice.

One thing I noticed in trying to search for her books, is that many of her picture books ended up being translated to Russian but are unfortunately difficult to find in English (apart from Taro the Dragon Boy).  You can however, see a whole lot of her Japanese covers HERE. It also seems like tracking down her multi-volume works and her collections of ghost stories and folktales isn't very straight forward either - something I hope will be remedied in the near future, especially since her passing has made it clear how valuable her work was.

There is a new book of hers due to be released in April, titled Shinano of Folklore (honestly - I haven't a clue how to read Japanese so I'm completely at the mercy of an online translator here. I'm not certain this title is correct..) Here's the synopsis, which sounds like a wonderful edition to looking at modern use of folklore and fairy tales in modern Japan and I'm not even going to try moving words around so it makes more sense to our English sentence construction. It has a wonderful charm reading it as is:

Japanese mind hometown revives now of the response with former TBS TV anime "Manga Japan Folk Tales" Mirai Inc. version proven caused a "folklore boom" and "Japanese folklore" series to many years of requests, outfit new We will. Illustrations are intact, the Kuminaoshi the print. "Shinano of folklore" is located in the knot of east and west, folklore that has been handed down among the natural Shinshu which is said to be Japan's roof. Crystal of wisdom, desire ancestors gave birth natural and human battle. 

A knot of East and West. I like that. We're all knots really...

I've done my best to track down the titles of the twelve volume series Thoughts on Modern Folklore (or Modern Folklore Considered) and have listed what I could find/understand below, along with most of the cover pictures. It will give you an idea of how wide her range of study and thinking was, which is pretty wonderful, especially when you realize in order to do this she was tracking the same thing we are here: fairy tale news and use of fairy tales in pop culture and entertainment.







1 Kappa Tengu - God hidden
2 Military conscription inspection and recruits of time
3 Laughter of ghost train, ship and automobile and ghost stories
4 Dream of news fireball missing out soul
5 Story went to news - underworld
6 Home front, thought suppression, air raid, Battle of Okinawa
7 Schools, laughter and ghost stories
8 Laughter of radio, television and ghost stories
9 Echo snake, tree spirits, war and wood
10 Wolf jackals, cats
11 Raccoon mujina
12 Photos of Kai civilization

Here's link to the WHOLE SET.

Here are some other folktale books:

                            

                         Modern Folklore:
                        You Narrator, I Also Narrator

Folklore of the World

Japanese Mythology

Just a few of her "Momo-chan" (peach-chan) books, so beloved by Japanese parents and children. They were based off of her motherhood diary she began keeping when she had her first child.

These don't even begin to cover her books for children and teens with series such as "Story Gems", "Once Upon A Time", a "Thriller Restaurant" series for teens, illustrated folklore collections for children and babies (yes, babies), a huge Japanese folklore series and many, many more. Have a look HERE to see a massive range of titles at Amazon Japan.

Rest in peace Miyoko Matsutani.

Thank you for all the tales.

Additional sources: HERE & HERE

Burton to Tackle Disney's Next Live Action "Fairy Tale" Dumbo ("Dumbo" is a fairy tale now?)

FTNH: *Answers incessantly ringing phone* Hello?

Chirpy PR Person: *yelling*"The famous flying elephant fairy tale is coming to the big screen - as live action!"

FTNH: *winces* Um, Dumbo isn't a fairy tale.

Chirpy PR Person: "But it's Disney and Tim Burton is directing it!"

FTNH: Those are not the criteria for a fairy tale.

Chirpy PR Person: "Oh pshaw - it'll be BIG! Bigger than BIG! It'll be..."

Buddhist Folktale - The Elephant Girly-Face

FTNH: A circus.

Chirpy PR Person: "Well, yes!"

FTNH: -sigh-

Chirpy PR Person: "Doesn't it at least qualify as some sort of folktale? Or urban legend?"

FTNH: Can you think of one?

Chirpy PR Person: "Er, well how about that line "have you ever seen an elephant fly?" and the horse fly, house fly stuff? Isn't that some sort of folklore-y thing?"

FTNH: You're going to make me do the Grumpy Cat face.

Chirpy PR Person: "You mean.. flying elephants have NOTHING to do with fairy tales and folklore?"

FTNH: Well, if you must tie something in, it would probably be regarding the Indian legend of the origin of elephants.

Chirpy PR Person: "And how does that go exactly?"

FTNH: Well, one version says, that after the sun had been hatched out of some giant cosmic egg-thingy, Brahma (supernatural head honcho, god-style) picked up the left over shells and started chanting, only to have an amazing white creature emerge (aka the original elephant), followed by a couple of dozen-plus cloud elephants. These elephants and their elephant-kids could fly around...

Airavata-the elephant by Yuti

Chirpy PR Person: *interrupts* "Did they have huge ears?"

FTNH: *glares at phone*... and even change shape when they wanted to, but their partying disturbed some old grumpy dude who decided enough was enough, cursed them and clipped their wings - in some versions they have actual wings. Basically, they lost all their flying abilities and were stuck on the ground forever. ‡

Chirpy PR Person: "Harsh."

FTNH: *shrugs* Stuff like that happened a lot way back when, apparently.

Chirpy PR Person: "Soooo... *brightens* elephants have been part of circuses for a long time then!"

FTNH: What? No! They were free, not in cages performing... look, it's a legend and has nothing to do with circuses.

Chirpy PR Person: "But this will!"

FTNH: We're back to that, are we?

Chirpy PR Person: "'Cause it's going to be BIG!"

FTNH: Alright - make your announcement thingy and then we can call it quits because there are lots of elephants folktales and fables but they're a long way from anything remotely like Dumbo.

Chirpy PR Person: "Except for the cloud elephants."

FTNH: *Grumpy Cat face*

Chirpy PR Person: *Hurriedly pulls out press report and reads*:

"Disney is betting that the man to make you believe an elephant can fly is Tim Burton. The filmmaker behind “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,” “Batman,” “Big Eyes” and “Alice in Wonderland” will direct Disney’s coming live-action remake of “Dumbo,” Walt Disney Pictures president of production Sean Bailey said. ... The film is expected to be a mixture of computer generated effects and live actors, although details on the project are still scarce at this early stage of development. Mr. Bailey would only say of the plans for a new “Dumbo” story that “It’s a big world,” indicating that the story will be broader than the original tale of a circus elephant with large ears who learns to fly."

FTNH: By "big world" you mean the movie will be longer than the lovely concise 64 minute classic storytelling Dumbo is.

Chirpy PR Person: *ignores comment* "And it will be Circus-Circus! Burton loves a good circus motif so this is going to be..."

FTNH: *interrupts* A 90 minute version of Pink Elephants on Parade, Burton style? *shudders*

by Ruth Sanderson

Chirpy PR Person: "Can't you give me one thing to hang this on? I mean, Disney is going to be all: "This is our new live action fairy tale" about it, and people are going to call it that too, so can't you think of some reason to get excited about it?"

FTNH: Well, there are a lot of fairy tales about magic feathers...

Chirpy PR Person: *even chirpier* "There you go! Disney's newest live action fairy tale project doesn't have a release date yet, nor do we know what kind of "magic" Burton will use to make this classic story a reality but you'll believe..."

FTNH: *interrupts* I know, I know: anything is possible - even ruining one of the best films ever made.

Chirpy PR Person: "That's not what.."

FTNH: *Presses END CALL* - HEADDESK -

by  Larry T. Quach

Source: HERE

Note: This better not be why Ringling is taking another two years to finally stop using elephants in their circuses.

‡ See another folktale about flying elephants from Soara, India, HERE.

On "Cinderella" Costume Practicality and Altering Oneself To "Fit"

Sandy Powell - Queen of Cinderella Costumes (siting on a prop from the costume display)

Perhaps things will change after the movie is in theaters and everyone who wanted to see it (or see the Frozen "sequel" before it), have seen it but for now, the strongest impressions of Cinderella are all about the costumes.

Three time Oscar winner, Sandy Powell is the costume designer for this movie and I have to say the sneak peeks and close-ups are indeed stunning (not things I would wear but the craftsmanship is clear).

But it's the teeny waist controversy that's bugging people out a bit. No matter how independent and strong this Cinderella is compared to her (Disney) predecessor, the fact that star, Lily James couldn't comfortably eat solid food while in her corset, shouts far louder to the public that ideal look and measurements are still the deciding factor for what makes an ideal woman.

This, of course, fits well with the theme of the step sisters doing their best to squeeze their foot into the glass slipper, in order that they will become the chosen bride. The Grimm's version is pretty clear on just how far the sisters may have gone, and currently, the new designer "glass" slippers by famous brand designers all show a slim fit shoe in which there was only one design that was under 4 inches (I may be being generous - perhaps none were), not to mention an inbuilt requirement for having feet that are well manicured and bunion, vein and sweat-free.

Oh, and in case you were wondering? Foot surgeries: still popular.

What a colorful society this is! Pity real life isn't so much.

Looks are everything in this film - everything is designed to shine, glow, be full of color or drama and everything is about as perfect as possible. Even the blue dress featured in every Cinderella commercial, was designed to look perfect while Cinderella was running, as well as standing and dancing.

Funny thing is, it turns out that when Lily James had to run she wasn't wearing those Swarovski crystal heels at all, but running shoes. Well that just makes a little too much sense, doesn't it?

If Cinderella lost a shoe because she was desperately loosening her corset and slipping into something more comfortable to run in (or resorting to bare feet) that would actually be quite a statement. Can you imagine? It would change the whole conversation....

I thought I'd share a few other notable pieces of trivia on this shoe and fit business as well:

Powell is very particular when creating designs that the under garments are as close to authentic as possible.
“I want to dispel the myth that corsets are uncomfortable,” Powell says. “Corsets are uncomfortable if they are made badly or if they don’t fit right. If they are made to fit properly, your squeezey bits — like your waist — get pulled in properly and it shouldn’t push on your rib cage. All that it does is that it makes you aware of your posture.” 

It took about 20 minutes to get James into the costume, including lacing up the corset. 

The corset didn’t hurt James, but there was a side effect Powell hadn’t anticipated. Richard Madden, who plays the Prince, noticed during dance scenes with Cinderella that if James ate anything while in the corset she would have some pain. They would have to stop so it could be loosened.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/03/07/4413028_sandy-powell-dresses-cinderella.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

FTNH Interrupt: Hang on a second - how do the phrases "didn't hurt James" and "have some pain" work simultaneously?! Even if you take this as generously as possible how can a corset that "doesn't hurt you" coexist with a corset that makes your body object if you eat?! OK - two cents over, back to it:

...James was able to wear comfortable running shoes because the gown covered her feet completely. She never wore the glass slippers that prove so important to the tale.
Powell designed the slippers based on an 1890s shoe she saw in a museum. The 5-inch heels gave the shoes a modern look that was still suitable for the fairytale. She had casts made of the shoes, which were sent to a company that created the slippers out of cut crystal. 

The shoe is made up of three pieces of crystal fastened together. The shoe was only used as a prop. Scenes that show the slippers were added via computers after the filming was completed.
When asked about the cut crystal shoes, James smiles and says they didn’t fit her feet. She immediately realizes that she’s ruined the fairytale ending and adds, the shoe wouldn’t fit anyone’s foot.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/03/07/4413028_sandy-powell-dresses-cinderella.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Well isn't that ironic?

And I'll just leave this last bit here for your reading pleasure:

Most of her work for “Cinderella” went as Powell planned — except for a small issue with the Fairy Godmother design. Helena Bonham Carter would only play the role if the character had wings. 

Bonham Carter had to put up with a lot for the costume to work. Her dress is filled with lights and batteries to make her shine. That’s why Powell was finally willing to add a small pair of wings to her look. Director Kenneth Branagh says Bonham Carter joked that every day there was a man to turn her on.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/03/07/4413028_sandy-powell-dresses-cinderella.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

This might be the only case in the whole movie where the costume was made to "fit" the person. Even Prince Charming was faced with having his "codpiece" discussed and er, managed (please tell me they didn't CGI him into a Ken doll). Not even the boys were getting away with being 100% come-as-you-are. So in the case of the Fairy Godmother (and Helena Bonham Carter) the costumes had to "fit" the wearer, rather than altering the wearer to fit the costume (what a headache I'm sure, but in principle I say Bravo Helena!).

I'm not sold on the movie yet. I can't see anything particularly revolutionary about it that Ever After didn't already do (and much, much better) but those costumes really do look amazing.

Between those and Cate Blanchett (who apparently reads all sort of fairy tales to her three boys, and not just the boy ones but the girly ones too) I'm thinking I may have to do my fairy tale duty and go see this. Anyone want to go with me? I have a feeling I'm going to want to chat about it after over drinks, no matter how good or bad it is.


(Source: fresnobee)

Save Daylight: Reward Offered

Goldilocks by Scott Gustafson

Due to it being one of my most detested times of year (the start of daylight savings and back-to-work-after-even-less-sleep-than-usual-day), I thought to cheer myself up, I should hold a contest.

So here you go:

Save daylight during Daylight Savings Time! 

The rules are simple: 

Beginning with the first day of Daylight Savings Time, those entering the contest must begin saving daylight. Those who save the most daylight by midnight of the last day of Daylight Savings Time will be awarded a prize. 

Only pure daylight is allowed. No pre-dawn light or twilight will be accepted. Daylight on cloudy days is allowable. Moonlight is strictly prohibited and any of it mixed with daylight will bring immediate disqualification. 

Contestants are instructed to save their accumulated daylight in any container they wish, then bring the container to the Once Upon A Blog office at the end of DST — or when they think they have saved enough daylight to win. 

All entries will be donated to less fortunate nations that do not observe Daylight Savings Time.

*Original contest held via the ElDorado Journal. I do not take credit for this genius.

Maria Tatar Answered Questions on Schonwerth, Grimms & Fairy Tales at iO9 This Week (& it Was Awesome)

I'm sorry I didn't see this until about half an hour after the opportunity was over, and I didn't want to just add this to the round-up list, but yes: Maria Tatar was on the pop culture 'n' more news site iO9, answering every question, no matter how strange, with tact, aplomb and a solid dose of good humor.

Here's the announcement from Thursday:

Maria Tatar is the translator of the newly discovered trove of fairytales, lost for over a century, but just recently uncovered. Ask her all your questions about The Turnip Princess, the history of fairytales and folklore, and anything else you want to know!Tatar will be joining us today from noon - 1:00 p.m. (Pacific time), so start asking her all your questions now about the history of fairytales, where these new fairytales fit in with the tradition, and what these stories mean to us today.

Although I don't really have too many questions on Schonwerth yet as I have yet to do more than skim the book, I'm sure I would have thought of something! But it's great to be there live as regular people are asking questions on fairy tales. That doesn't happen too often!

Here are a few exchanges that I thought you guys might find interesting:

Isabelle Arsenault

Ria Misra: Also, one of the things that stood out to me when reading The Turnip Princess was the darkness of many of the stories that were told. Obviously, the original Grimm brothers tales had their own dark elements as well, but those have been considerably softened through the years. Do you suspect that a similar softening process will eventually happen with these new fairytales, or are they more likely to retain their darker threads?Tatar: I've touched on some of the differences between Grimm and Schönwerth already, so I'll focus on the question of the "softening process." When the Grimms published their collection, they came under much critical fire for publishing stories that were "crude" and "vulgar." One reviewer was outraged by the story of Hans Dumm, who makes women pregnant by looking at them. The Grimms quickly dropped that story from their collection in part because they found that by making the volume more appealing to parents, they sold more books. Schönwerth never refashioned his stories, and he gives us a story in which a fellow eats dumplings and then makes a mess outdoors. Then there is the king's bodyguard, who gets the king's daughter pregnant. I imagine that these stories will expand the folkloric canon, and in some cases they will be watered down, in other cases intensified and made even more explosive. Neil Gaiman once said that a fairy tale is like a "loaded gun"—and that's why I use the term "explosive." You can always blow up a fairy tale, blow it up in both senses of the term. 

Sketchnotes for "The Great Cauldron of Story" with Maria Tatar by On Being

The Homework Ogre: In terms of original fairy tales, the one thing that everybody seems to know is that they were once much more violent — wicked stepmother dances to death in red-hot iron shoes, kids waste away and die together under a tree, stepsisters mutilate themselves to fit the slipper, etc. etc. — and have since been "sanitized" for the consumption of kids. I'm sure the stories in this collection are no less grim (har har); how do you feel about the bowlderization of folk tales?Tatar: I'm completely irreverent when it comes to fairy tales. There's nothing sacred about these stories. No one really owns them, and we should be able make them our own in mash-ups, remixes, and adaptations. It's important to preserve the historical record, and that's why I am so deeply invested in the work of the Grimms, Charles Perrault, and Schönwerth. But why should we read stories from the early nineteenth-century to our children today? Especially when women dance to death in red-hot iron shoes? Or a stepmother decapitates her stepson in "The Juniper Tree"? There's no reason not to create our own zany versions, and, if you look at picture books about Little Red Riding Hood, you see that we do that all the time. We are constantly recycling "Cinderella," "Snow White," and "Sleeping Beauty" for adults—in ways obvious and not so obvious. I don't necessarily like every new version, but I do love to talk about it. What did the writer or filmmaker get right? Where did they go wrong? 

Silver Marmoset: In a class I'm currently taking on fairy tales, we've discussed where the Grimms' fairy tales came from geographically (apparently Italy). But have you any idea where the fairy tale motifs themselves came from? As in, what ideas or time periods gave rise to the idea of ogres, talking animals, and magic as story fodder?Thank you!Tatar: Great question, and I'd start with Vladimir Nabokov who tells us that fiction began on the day when a boy came home crying "Wolf Wolf" and there was no wolf. I love the idea of fairy tales as lies—true lies that exaggerate and bend reality in ways that enable us to flex our intellectual muscles and "think more." Where did these stories come from? I don't have much faith in the view put forth that the tales had literary origins in Italy. In fact, the Schönwerth collection has few literary fingerprints on it at all. His stories are not urban and urbane confections, but narratives rooted in popular culture—with all the rough edges, surreal qualities, and lack of closure you might expect from oral storytelling traditions. The more I study folklore, the more I realize that the tropes (lost slipper, cannibalistic ogre, predatory wolf) circulate globally. The stories are primal and take up cultural contradictions that are found everywhere—human vs. animal, predator vs. prey, bestiality vs. compassion, hostility and hospitality—and help us try to make sense of them. 

LucilleBallBuster: what do you think the modern equivalent of fairy tales are? do you think any of the stories current society creates have taken the place or fairytale? or do we still form these types of stories and pass them around?Tatar: Fairy tales have not gone away. They have just been re-mediated, and today we find them on screen, at the opera, on stage, in advertisements, even in paintings. Take Little Red Riding Hood: She's refashioned in films like Hanna, Hard Candy, Freeway, and The Company of Wolves. We see her in a Chanel ad, in a Pepsi commercial (where she becomes the wolf—I think it's Kim Cattrall howling in the soundtrack), or in a Volvo ad (with a red-hooded car driving through the woods and a kid in the back seat). Then suddenly Vogue has a fairy-tale fashion shoot, and presto she reappears. Visual culture loves the girl in red, and Kiki Smith has an eye-popping series of Little Red Riding Hood images (one in the series famously appeared as a perverse wedding gift in Gilmore Girls—could not stop myself on that one).

As you can see, there's a lot to chew on here! (I had to stop myself from adding more.) You can read the whole Q&A HERE, though you might want to make yourself a very large cup of tea. Once you start, it's hard to stop reading.

American Ballet Theater's Sleeping Beauty - Final Performances in Costa Mesa CA Today (Sunday)

A quick sneak-it-in post, since Sunday (today as you are probably reading this) is the last day this is being performed in Costa Mesa, California. But the production sounds all sorts of amazing, with new choreography and classic combined, full of symbolism and a different sort of storytelling to usual story ballets.

By the way - beautiful promotional pic, don't you think? Although it also looks incredibly uncomfortable.. that girl is going to need a massage when she finally gets woken up!

The American Ballet Theatre returns to the Center with the world premiere of its new production of The Sleeping Beauty, with choreography by Marius Petipa and additional choreography by ABT Artist in Residence, Alexei Ratmansky. This classic story ballet tells the enchanting tale of the beautiful princess cursed to sleep for 100 years by an evil sorceress, until awakened by the kiss of a handsome prince. It’s ballet on the grandest scale with the superstar dancers and spectacular sets and costumes that only ABT can deliver. And it all unfolds to Tchaikovsky’s ravishing score, performed live by the Pacific Symphony.

New costume design left to right:
1st row: Rose Adagio, The Wolf, Queen at Christening, English Prince
2nd row: Catalabutte, Mandarin, King at the Christening, Indian Prince
3rd row: Hummingbird Fairy, New Wedding Dress, Ariana, Garland Couples

(You can see the costumes sketches much larger HERE.)

I wanted to point to a hilarious, irreverent post on her special night out to see an older ABT Sleeping Beauty production (at The Lincoln Center) HERE. The writer clearly was completely entranced, but makes some hilarious observations and connections too, such as:

"Any respectable girl knows the story of Sleeping Beauty. She is born, and at her welcoming ceremony, her parents offend Helena Bonham Carter, who curses the princess to an early death via poisonous spindle."

I had to laugh.

And if you get the chance to see the ABT's current production, consider going. It's touted to be a little bit more than a standard production of Sleeping Beauty (which is a very difficult ballet to stage and execute because of the technical difficulties - many companies are just not up to the grueling task!).

For this Sunday/today's last two performances, you can find more information HERE.


For more information on the American Ballet Theater touring (though I don't see any further performances of this new Sleeping Beauty production after tomorrow until June) go have a look HERE.Note: if you end up going and seeing a performance of this Sleeping Beauty later in the year, I've read articles which say the ballet, because it's a brand new production, is being tweaked and revised, according to critic and audience reception as it goes along (this is fairly standard for age companies adding a new signature work to their repertoire) so be assured that it will only get better.

Fairy tale bonus of the day:

Ballet legend, Gelsey Kirkland and her amazing Carabosse costume from the ABT production in 2007. I just had to share. It looks like beetles and magic! You can see more from the creator, Kari Love, who created the costumes for the 2007 production HERE.

Ask Baba Yaga: Am I Watching Too Much Television?

Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave by Kinuko Craft

That glowing siren call of the modern age... so many shows, so little time.

Today's question and answer (via poet and oracle Taisia Kitaiskaia* of The Hairpin):

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

TV as a golden egg.. interesting concept. Both valuable and invaluable at the same time. Is she saying concentrating on it solely will only give you a cracked, half life? That you cannot truly appreciate the gold - or even discern the gold - unless you live your life and do other things too? Clearly Baba Yaga is very aware of TVs addictive properties though. 

Stories are wonderful in every form but some mediums have more impact than others. When it comes to TV, sometimes that's gold, sometimes it's just something shiny in your eye, blocking your vision.

I agree wholeheartedly. (But I still wish we could afford HBO - not that I would have time to watch it...)

What do you think of Baba Yaga's advice?

Want to ask Baba Yaga a question of your own?

You can!

There's now an email address where you can send your questions

directly to Baba Yaga herself.

AskBabaYaga AT gmail DOT com

To encourage Baba Yaga to continue imparting her no-bones-about-it wisdom (ok, there may be some gristle in there... bones too), I suggest we not to leave her box empty... 

Thank you Baba Yaga (& Taisia).

* Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. Born in Russia and raised in America, she's had her poems and translations published in Narrative Magazine, Poetry International, and others.

Reader Spotlight: Bluebird-cakes Goes Into The Woods

I was sent a picture of this delightful - and amazing! - cake recently, from a OUABlog reader and talented fairy tale community friend, Zoe Smith of Bluebird-cakes (aka Wintersgate fairy). She kindly gave me permission to share it and some of her other fairy tale creations with you. Thank you Zoe!

About the Into the Woods cake, Zoe says:

The Into the Woods cake was chocolate mud covered in ganache and decorated in fondant icing , and modelling chocolate was used for the detail of the head and trees.

Chocolate, chocolate ganache, more chocolate... mmm. I just don't know quite how you go about eating a witch's face... (Fingers? No problem. Face? Um... please don't curse me!) But seriously, can you imagine receiving this for your birthday? I think I wouldn't let anybody touch it. Ever! ("Don't never, ever, ever mess around with my greens cake!")
         
Zoe also shared a little more about herself, confirming her long time fairy tale obsession, er, love, and that she truly is one of us...

I am a cake decorator based in the North East of England, love all things fairy tale from dark Grimm's tales to the Spiderwick  Chronicles and I bleed Disney ! Love , love , love animation and we have a collection of DVDs that I pretend belong to my kids but they are truly mine . My books are half fairy tale /animation art , half cake decoration and recipes. And lastly , I am Pinterest obsessed !  Makes you wonder how my husband puts up with me ?!

                
Look at those little animated pansies!! I want a whole cake with singing Alice flowers now...

For those lucky people in the UK who can go see and taste test one of her cakes personally: I envy you.. and keep her in mind if you need something a little special, something made with enchantment. As you can see, Zoe is sure to deliver.

I also discovered that Zoe has an Etsy shop, something for which I have no idea how she finds time to create anything with cakes like these. But in the past she made - and sold - these adorable elf boots below. (Lucky customer!)

I have a feeling we'll see more magic from Zoe's corner before long. I've added her sites and information below.)

                       Zoe Smith - Bluebird-cakes
www.facebook.com/wintersgate
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Submissions Call: Frozen Fairy Tales Anthology (from Enchanted Conversation)

(Reposted from Enchanted Conversation, in full, with permission. The original post is HERE. This is a paid writing opportunity.)

In the bleak midwinter, the call of fairy tales can be especially irresistible. After all, fairy tales both take us out of our humdrum world and into the possibilities of what can be--or maybe even is. A fairy tale read in winter can help us dream through the the cold days and nights.

Yet, surprisingly few fairy tales are specifically set in winter. With Frozen Fairy Tales, we're hoping to remedy that.

In a joint venture between World Weaver Press and Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine, we're opening up to submissions for a fairy tale collection set in winter. Details are below.

The Winter by Vladimir Kireev

1) You must be 18 or older to submit.

2) Submissions must be in English, but submissions from all over the world are most welcome.

3) No stories connected to the movie Frozen will be considered. It's a great movie, but this anthology is not at all about that film.

4) Stories centered on winter holidays are most welcome, but stories do not need to be holiday focused. Krampus-themed stories will be considered, but please do not resubmit stories that were previously submitted for the Krampusnatch collection.

5) A sense of winter and its perils and possibilities must be part your story.

6) This is a fairy tale collection, which means the sensibility of the stories should evoke classic fairy tales. You do not need to retell famous fairy tales reset in winter, but you may. 

Nonetheless, the classics have been retold a lot lately, so fresher takes with more originality stand a better chance of being selected, as do retellings of obscure fairy tales. But think winter!

7) Please, no erotica, hard-core horror or sci-fi.

8) Open submission period: March 6-May 15, 2015.

9) Length: Under 10,000 words.

10) Submission method: Email cover letter and story to enchantedconversation [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line “Frozen Fairy Tales Anthology – story title.” Cover letter should contain your name, contact info, story’s title, and approximate word count; no need to summarize the story, let it speak for itself. Then paste the full story into the body of the email following your letter. Please make it very clear where paragraphs break — this means if your email doesn’t let you indent paragraphs, you’ll need to put an extra space between each paragraph for submission purposes. Do not send unrequested attachments.

Simultaneous submissions = okay. Multiple submissions = no.

11) Rights and compensation: Payment: $20. All contributors will receive a paperback copy of the anthology.

We are seeking first world rights in English and exclusive rights to publish in print and electronic format for twelve months after publication date after which publisher retains nonexclusive right to continue to publish for a term. No reprints will be considered. That means only previously unpublished works will be considered.