After months of discussion and preparation, the AFTS committee is delighted to announce the theme of our 2016 conference…

Into the Bush: Its Beauty and Its Terror

Here are the details:

When: Sunday, 26 June 2016

Where: We have chosen to hold our conference in Victoria this year! For our venue, we have chosen the Glen Eira Town Hall, Caulfield, VIC, 3162.

Our call for papers is now officially open, and will close at 5pm on Friday, 29 January 2016. See the call for papers below, or print off a PDF version here: AFTS 2016 Conference – CFP

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Australian Fairy Tale Society – 2016 Conference

Call for Presentations – Into the Bush: Its Beauty and Its Terror

‘Into the Woods,’ is a phrase that has become closely linked to the fairy tale genre. It conjures up all manner of fairy tale images, such as roguish wolves waiting behind trees and lost children stumbling upon gingerbread houses.

But how does it translate into the Australian fairy tale tradition? For our third annual conference, we will be exploring what happens when we venture… ‘Into the Bush.’ Australian fairy tales reflect many of the realities of the bush, while also reimagining it as a space of magic and mystery. Whether it is depicted as real or otherworldly, the bush always encompasses duality – it is a place of both beauty and terror.

We are now accepting proposals for storytelling performances, musical performances, academic papers, and creative readings. We would also love to hear from artists wishing to display and/or sell their works at the conference.

Presentation topics may include (but are not limited to):

• Into the unknown
• Getting lost, getting found
• Native flora and fauna
• Environmental concerns
• Drought and fire
• Elements of nature: earth, wind, fire, water
• Urban and rural
• The bush as sexual metaphor
• Fear and danger in the bush
• Secrets and hidden treasures
• Havens, homes and holes in the ground
• A place to breathe in: spiritual nourishment
• National identity and our relationship to the bush
• Tales of colonisation
• Culture clash, culture meld
• A fork in the road
• The bush as a liminal space
• Making your own path
• Following tracks
• Blazing trails and dropping breadcrumbs
• Survival kits (including a storyteller’s swag bag)
• Stories like wildfire
• The wildness of stories (and their seeding)
• Changing nature and ‘the changing nature’ of the Australian bush and the stories we tell there
• When European fairies and tales re-root themselves in the bush
• The changing landscape of fairy tales and tellings in Australia

Academic papers will be up to 20 minutes in duration and performances and readings will be up to 15 minutes in duration. All presentations will be offered the option of 10 additional minutes of question time.

Please email your proposal of no more than 200 words to austfairytales@gmail.com by 5pm Friday January 29, 2016.

We look forward to receiving your proposals!

Fairy wishes,
The AFTS Committee