If you haven’t seen the Fairytales exhibition at GOMA yet, it’s time to venture into the woods and go down that rabbit hole. You won’t regret it.
The exhibition has something for everyone — whether you like art or history, film or multimedia, there will be something to delight you. My favourite piece was Cinderella’s glass slipper from the 2015 live action film. But the very early Red Riding Hood painting from 1862 was also a highlight.
Our small crew of Fairytale afficionados started the exhibition experience with a guided tour and then wandered for hours back and forth through the exhibit like Alice walking through the maze. The Alice in Wonderland section was particularly impressive with several Charles Blackman ‘Alice’ paintings, costumes from Tim Burton’s film Alice in Wonderland, and a toadstool display that took up the whole room, attached to an apparatus that could be pushed around by visitors. Curiouser and curiouser.
The costume displays dominated the exhibition with many costumes from Mirror Mirror, and several costumes from the Catherine Denueve film Donkeyskin, all so intricate. In addition, there were props from Beauty and the Beast, and Labyrinth, along with the costume of the Goblin King himself. Yes, I had a David Bowie fangirl moment.
Other items included cut outs from Hans Christian Anderson, along with the photos from the fairy hoax, and a 3D witches house which you could walk into and immerse yourself in the dark mythology. It was a brilliant exhibition which was worth crossing the border to see.
Early in the exhibition season, members of the Brisbane Fairytale Ring were invited to storytell at GOMA over several sessions in a ‘Fairytale Festival’ and had a wonderful time doing so. June Perkins gives all the details and fabulous photos on the Gumbootzpearlz blog. Well worth the read.
As always, we exit the exhibition via the FairyTales giftshop, selling the AFTS Anthology, South of the Sun. We have picked up some new readers – congratulations to all involved.
Fairytales at GOMA closes on 28th April 2024. Thank you to GOMA for a fantastic Fairytales experience and for inviting AFTS to be part of it.
Once and Future Tales: What was, what is, … What if? Australian Fairy Tale Society Conference 2024
Call for Presentations – Submissions now openhere EXTENSION – Submissions now close at midnight AEST on March 8th! SUBMISSIONS HAVE NOW CLOSED
The Otherworld… Everywhen… Standing in the story-space…
“Once upon a time” takes us into a place where time moves differently.
Fairy tales allow us to time travel to the past and scry into the future, uncovering lessons from what once was and paving the way for what might be. We can create conversations with our ancestors, premonitions for our descendants, and dreams of our here and now. Like King Arthur and Finn Macool, what tales lie waiting for our clarion call? And which, like Briar Rose, must be put to sleep for a spell?
Through folk and fairy tales we stitch together motif and memory, epics and anecdotes creating letters from the past to the future. But how do we hold these tales in our hearts here and now?
Do we tell stories because they have happened or because, maybe, they are yet to be?
“Time comes into it. Say it. Say it. The universe is made of stories not of atoms.” from The Speed of Darkness by Muriel Rukeyser
We invite you to submit proposals for what you could present at our 10th annual conference, drawing from the creative invitation above. We encourage a variety of forms and ideas. Please submit your proposal on our online form hereby midnight 8th March 2024 (extended from the initial date).Submissions are now closed.
The 2024 conference will be primarily held face-to-face, with some hybrid/online sessions.
As always our focus is on the Australian interpretation and confections to fairy tales, particularly contemporary diverse Australia. As AFTS Conference-goers delight in diversity, we are looking for –
Talks of no more than 25 minutes, with the option of 5 minutes Q&A
These could be case studies of projects with a fairy tale basis
Analysis of a particular tale or tale type
Histories, research, and more! Be creative!
Panel discussions of no more than 25 minutes, with the option of 5 minutes Q&A
Performances of no more than 10 minutes, with an option for 5 minutes’ Q&A
Displays of your books, art, puppets, toys, costumes, etc for sale, or to decorate our venue.
Stalls to sell your merchandise
All submissions will be responded to in early April, so that the full program can be announced mid-to-late-April.
The Australian Fairy Tale Society was established to investigate, create, and communicate fairy tales from an Australian perspective. Local Rings gather five times a year, and our Magic Mirrors gather by Zoom almost every month, to explore specific fairy tales like a book club for fairy tales.
Some previous conference themes include The Fairy Tale in Australia, Transformations, Into the Bush, Gardens of Good and Evil, Magic Mirrors: The Seen and the Unseen, and Fairy Tales: Flesh or Fossil. We have an irregular Ezine and have published an original Anthology, South of the Sun: Australian Fairy Tales for the 21st Century.
Do gay fairy tales exist? How about bisexual fairy tales? Trans fairy tales? Asexual fairy tales? If you did a survey of the most well-known fairy tales you’d answer no. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. My name is Em Chandler (she/they), I’m currently the Vice-President of the AFTS, and I adore the odd, dusty, and overlooked; especially when it comes to fairy tales. And I’m here to tell you queer fairy tales do exist.
“But if queer fairy tales exist, where are they? What are they?”, I hear you ask…
Well, that is another story for another day. And I promise I will tell it to you. Just wait until June.
For as long as there have been stories, storytellers have been reimagining and interpreting those same stories. That includes queer storytellers. As here in Victoria (my home state) it is soon to be Midsumma Festival – our annual LQBTQIA+ festival, let’s have a look at a fraction of the retellings made so far.
English storyteller and author, Kevin Walker (he/him), has a delightful volume called Queer Folk Tales. Drawing from his own repertoire of stories, he adapts and reimagines queer folk tales, fairy tales, legends and myths. I love revisiting The Blue Rose in this collection. It’s a beautiful story about love and truly seeing someone, so I’m surprised this is the first queer version I have come across! If you know of others, let me know. (Though despite popular belief, the original is not Chinese but a 19th century literary fairy tale. But it’s been shared so much as a ‘folktale’ I wonder whether that really matters now…).
Everything Under the Moon is absolutely beautiful anthology only published last year. And best of all, over 50% of the authors are Australian! Edited by Michael Earp (they/them)*, like Queer Folk Tales above, some stories are set in once upon a time, others modern day, some even science fiction but each is delight to behold. I was kindly sent a review copy (which I received on behalf of the AFTS). A full review should appear in our next E-Zine, but don’t wait until then – I cannot recommend it enough. The book is physically beautiful, and the tales even more so. Picking one favourite is an impossible task, but… If The Shoe Fits by Lili Wilkinson and Moonfall by Alison Evans are still dancing in my head after the most recent reread. Wonders await no matter of these magic beans you chose.
Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins is a collection of thirteen interconnected tales by Emma Donoghue (she/her) exploring Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and more with a decidedly queer and feminist lens. I adore that a character from each proceeding story becomes the narrator of the next in this collection. Each new fairy tale adding depth and complexity to the next, and vice versa.
But we’re not limited to short stories, there’s novels too. Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron (she/her) takes the Cinderella tale we’re most familiar and says, “what if it was true, and what would the world look like 200 years later”? Dystopian, fast paced, and a wickedly good re-examination of the tale we all know. One thing I love especially is that Bayron hasn’t set out to say the Cinderella narrative is bad – but how the narrative can be twisted and used by those in power.
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel. Tiến Phong is a second generation American Vietnamese teenager, and its through fairy tales he helps his mother learn English. But he’s also struggling to tell his mum about his sexuality. So, fairy tales step in once again. It’s a stunning narrative with gorgeous illustrations, and fantastic use of colour too.
There’s theatre too! The Story Keepers is a play/emerging children’s theatre ensemble that retell and perform overlooked fairy tales, especially queer fairy tales. Yes, this is a shameless plug, because I’m the director and writer! Three fairy tales, none of which you will have heard of, from Iceland, Germany, and Catalan, and all funny, enchanting and queer. Perfect for everyone 5+. If you’re Victoria based, we’ve got shows on February 3rd and 4th for Midsumma. Details and tickets here: https://www.midsumma.org.au/story-keepers. And while I’m doing a shameless plugs, I’ve written my own queer retelling of Cinderella – The Midnight Princess – and its been included in a new anthology, Out-Side: Queer Words & Art from Regional Victoria (It’s being launch on February 11thhttps://www.facebook.com/events/1104647510583022).
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This list is barely the start, a needle in a haystack of diverse, brilliant, wildly different approaches to rediscover, reimagine, and reclaim fairy tales for queer people. There are a thousand and one queer fairy tales to explore, and I strongly encourage that you do. If you want a helping hand delving into queer folktales shared and collected from the oral tradition, I’m happy to give it to you. In June.
Do you think you can wait??
* For more information about the editor of “Everything Under the Moon”, ‘Take me to your reader’ will be interviewing Michael Earp on 24 February 2024.
Australian Fairy Tale Society 