Brothers Grimm on The World Tonight

Last night, the Brothers Grimm featured on BBC radio 4's The World Tonight programme, as part of celebrations for the 200th anniversary of their first published collection of fairy tales.

The World Tonight  

BBC radio 4, 22:00, 20th September

It was only a short segment of the programme, but they discussed some pretty interesting things. For example, according to a survey of Britain's parents, 90% say they read fairy tales to their children, and more then 50% prefer the Grimm fairy tales to all the others. 90%! I didn't expect the number to be so high considering all the negative media recently about 'how bad fairy tales are for children'. 

One writer was asked why fairy tales still appeal to children - because surely it is all about Harry Potter these days - and they said a large part of it was probably to do with the fact that things just happen to you, regardless of who you are, unlike in Harry Potter, where only certain children are selected for great things to happen to, who then have to spend time in training anyway.

They did bring up the violence and unjust punishment in the earlier tales, e.g. in the original Frog Princess, the princess attacks the frog in order to gain her reward. A psychologist commented that this is how children learn to deal with scary situations - within the safe confines of a book.

There appear to be quite a few Grimm features around the BBC at the moment, so keep your eyes and ears peeled!

Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tale and Fantasy

If you live in the south of England you may be aware of the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tale and Fantasy, based at the University of Chichester. They frequently hold events that will interest any fairy tale fans out there, and this is the latest one:

Sex, lies and Videotape: The brothers Grimm experience
Wednesday 10 October 2012 5.15pm-6:30pm, Cloisters, Bishop Otter Campus,University of Chichester**Professional story-teller Janet Dowling presents the story of how the brothers Grimm cleaned up their act for contemporary readers … and what Disney did next.

Their advisory board is made up of big names in the global business of fairy tales, including Jack Zipes, Maria Tatar and Marina Warner. There are a couple of videos of lectures on the site, and a link to buy their journal, Gramarye.

It has occurred to me that I am only about 1 hour and a £13 train fare away from Chichester, and that I should definitely make use of such a wonderful centre that is practically on my doorstep!

Marshland by liselotte-eriksson @ dA

Contradictory thoughts

Hello!

I have returned. I returned a week ago, actually, but I've needed a bit of time to adjust and catch up with my tiny corner of the world. I have also been struggling to figure out how to write about my experiences - I've certainly been awed and inspired, but there is so much to say, so much going on, so much variation in India that I can't find the right words.

I think the best way to sum it up is probably in a single word: contradiction. 

'Holy' cows wander the streets, avoiding starvation by eating rubbish

I could spend a long time talking about the myriad reasons India is contradictory, my chief concern and confusion being that the world's second most populous country lacks basic sanitation...it looks like an epidemic waiting to happen. How can an 'emerging' global player be so floundering? The mind boggles. But I have been thinking about this with a certain sense of irony too, because if I were to write India, or 'world-build' a place based on what I experienced there...I don't think it would be believable to a reader! Seriously, I highly doubt I could get away with it; there are too many loose ends, absurdities and...yes, contradictions.

This trip has reminded me that nothing is as insane and unbelievable as real life. Books might contain the most accessible adventures, but nothing beats going out and experiencing things first hand for their randomness, uniqueness, and that overwhelming, heart-stopping feeling of wonder.

Fairie-ality

Once upon a time, during a balmy summer in the Kent countryside, I tiptoed carefully through gardens, paddocks, forests and orchards in search of bark chips, ivy vines, soft white feathers and fallen petals; I was hunting for the materials to create my very own fairy dress, inspired by Fairie-Ality from the House of Ellwand...

© David Ellwand, 2001

I must have been about 13, but I so vividly remember the way the excitement and passion bubbled in my stomach, it might as well have been yesterday. I wasn't just keen to make a dress: for one month only I was an escaped Londoner, and I was convinced not only that I could make fairy clothes, but that I could find a little someone to wear it whilst I was in the countryside. The chances of finding a fairy in the Big Smoke seemed slim. 

Some people will laugh to think of a teenager believing in fairies, but I grew up on a diet of fairy tales and adventure stories, and none of them ever took place in a city. I associated the countryside, any countryside, with the storybook worlds of my youth.

I never did make that dress. My desire was far greater than my ability (I could just about sew a felt purse together at that age.) But the magic was - is - still there. All you have to do is open the 'catalogue' and let it immerse you.

Recently I discovered David Ellwand's other related work - the Fairie-ality Style book of interior design. This caused all the above happy memories of nature-treasure hunting to come back to me, and when I found out he lives in West Sussex, one county over from where I live, it made me want to embrace the countryside around me so much more, and use it as inspiration in my work (hence quite a few previous posts about how inspirational nature really is.)

Click below to see more images from Ellwand's website, which I urge you all to explore...

Old Oak & The Maiden

After my last post, it seems an appropriate time to say that I have written a 'new' fairy tale! The driving force behind it was the question, 'what would happen if someone in need refused to accept magical help?' After discovering a piece of artwork that so brilliantly illustrated my story (which I blogged about here) I decided that I had no excuse for not finishing it!


I have no doubt that people will be able to see some of the stories that have inspired me, including older versions of Cinderella, the legends of King Arthur, The Tinder-Box...the list could go on. It's a mish-mash of traditions, but hey, there's nothing wrong with that, right?


Old Oak & The Maiden is currently being considered for submission, but I believe I can post an extract without it causing any harm:

     At the very heart of the forest, where no stars could be seen through the treetops, where no animals dwelled and where silence was as thick as honey, she stopped. She had arrived before an ancient oak tree, and mustering the final dregs of her energy she curtseyed in front of the thick, gnarled bark, before collapsing onto the floor and relinquishing into sobs. She had shed the last of her grace.
     Time expanded and contracted, and moved in the mysterious patterns called forth by solitude. She didn't know how long she stayed curled up amongst the dead leaves and her dirty dress, but enough time had elapsed for her to fall quiet once more. 
     The tree spoke to her at last.
     'Fair maiden, you did not come all this way to simply cry at my roots. Tell me your troubles.'

Inspiration from nature: Friston Forest, October 2011 

Same old, same old

Christie at Spinning Straw Into Gold recently posted interesting questions about whether traditional fairy tales still naturally occur, and whether there is such a thing as a new fairy tale (I left my answer in the comments).


This got me thinking about writing in general, and about how we so easily say 'this has been done before' when we see a story that we vaguely recognise. Well, of course it has been done before. There is a theory, somewhere, that there are only about 13 different plots that can be used to make a story - but how many millions upon millions of stories are there in the world? How many books do you recommend to people, and say how great they are? 


If we think broadly about the subject matter in stories, we could link Twilight to Pride and Prejudice to Romeo and Juliet if we so choose. The real distinction comes from writing styles, format, language, and yes, there are some stories that really are like other stories (Mills and Boon is a whole industry based on the predictability of the plots!) but what I find interesting is that people are a lot more judgemental about similarity in books that in, say, fashion or music. 


In fashion, its 'cool' to look like everyone else, and vintage fashion is just wearing the same clothes that were worn years before. And as for music, Will.I.Am uses the same notes as Smashing Pumpkins, as Girls Aloud, as Mozart: there are only so many notes, after all. 


Perhaps this judgement comes from the personal investment we put into books. We spend money on them, then sit down specifically to give our time and undivided attention to them; if we don't invest this care, we don't 'get into it' and are unable to follow the plots. When we read a book, it is an experience that isn't shared by anyone else at the same time. 


Is this deep personal connection what drives the need for newness, for originality? Is the investment of money and dedicated time what makes us turn our noses up to story lines that seem familiar? I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this...

Surreal, unreal

This morning I woke up in that surreal, unreal time, when it was light but not yet day. It would have been the morning version of twilight - does this have a name?
I emerged into a still world of grey light at 4:45 AM, and I stood in the garden breathing in the sweet, early-morning air. I heard the first bird make a sound. It soon became a peace-shattering cacophony of noise, which definitively bridged the gap and declared it day. 


I savoured my moment in this transitional time. The rain overnight had encouraged dozens of slugs and snails to come out and eat my plants, but it didn't bother me as much for some reason. I can't blame them; dew-covered shoots and leaves look far more appealing than dry ones. It felt magical to stand surrounded by such slow forms of nature, which seemed incredibly active and busy in relation to the stillness everywhere else. There was silence from the tracks and from the road - the trains had not started running, and I couldn't hear a single bus or car despite living on the main road into the city. And no drunken shouts. Just the growing din of seagulls to remind me that I do in fact live in a big coastal city.


It's as if the world was tucked safely in its bed, and there was time to discover its secrets in this little chink of time between night and day...

by kaasutii @ dA

I don't find 'the witching hour' particularly significant, but this time seems to hold an infinite amount of power. It played tricks with my mind. I thought I heard bells or wind chimes, but the air was still, and none of the neighbours have any hung up. I'm sure I smelt toast when I got out of bed. And were those little footprints on the dew-matted grass?


It has been a long time since my mind has felt so active, or so inspired. I should not have gone back to bed. I should have stayed up and written more than I did. Whilst everything around me was still I felt so alive, and like I was meant to be there experiencing it all - I wrote with ease, with instinctive voice, and with honest passion. Nothing felt forced. I didn't feel worried, stressed, or like a fraud; everything about me and what I was doing felt natural. It felt right.


Some people say you should write first thing in the morning. Others say at night. Others say whenever you have a free moment in the middle of your hectic day. I say: write when you feel the magic, because you will be the most true to yourself.