Hale and hearken! Melbourne Fairy Tale Ring is sprouting. Circles are interlinking, sparking energy through fairy tales.

Our first gathering, near the fairy tree in Fitzroy Gardens, featured Toby Eccles, brilliant folklorist & storyteller with Jack and the Beanstalk. We had impromptu tales from Cindy-Lee Harper, who traces her indigenous heritage to the Pyemarriner People of North East Tasmania. Also gracing our circle was Zeinab Yazdanfar with Persian folktale of Mushkil Gusha; garnished with my Celtic-Italian fairy tale improvised with hoola-hoop twirls by Tiahna Bowie-ford. Fairy-colleague of Wonderwings Fairy Shop’s heyday, Mary-Lou Keaney, joined us, along with others beloved of story clans. Storytelling Australia (Vic) president Jackie Kerin blogged about it here.

Among us are folklorists, storytellers, illustrators, fantasy authors, teachers, troubadours, academics, librarians, healers, secretaries, parents, cooks, environmentalists…. we are regional, rural, urban, any age, race or creed… renewing old links, forging new ones. There is no formal membership to this ring. You might just feel like sharing a ditty, poem, ballad, riddle, recipe or charm online.
Flowing from the Australian Fairy Tale Society, every couple of months, state rings explore a theme. This season it’s “Little Red Riding Hood.” So I’m going basket-bunting. Ok, I made that phrase up. It means dressing in berry red & bonnet white, bringing red trinkets & cheer to the elderly. I’ve booked an afternoon tea visit to Bendigo’s Strathhaven mid December. The lifecoach was delighted. Also plotting a private one in Melbourne, with an elderly fairy, my storytelling mentor.

A photo of my very own antique bellows is attached. Do fairies use it to fire up wolves’ bottoms?

If you’re up for bonnet bunting, welcome to contact me; or why not try your own? (Word to the Wise: best not to bring food to an old-people’s-home in respect for OH&S, but if you call ahead & liaise with staff, many will welcome a spark to Happy Hour.)

No costume? No cape, white scarf, or red cap? How about a splash of gold glitter, if you’re into Lang’s lupine fire-branding Golden-Hood?

Welcome also to Roslyn Quin’s free storytelling show, As the River Tells It, on December 18 for the finale of the series Words on the Wind, with Storytelling Victoria (Australia). Roslyn is ushering in a new generation of savvy fairies with astonishing talent. Details on our Events page.