UPDATE: The contest has been reinstated with a new deadline!
Due to lack of exposure and some personal life events, the fairy tale writing contest will be postponed until further notice.
I fully intend to re-open the contest at a later date, perhaps after Spinning Straw into Gold gets more regular traffic and I have the time and finances to give it the exposure it deserves.
So please keep checking back here, and in the meantime, I would relish any opportunity to share your fairy tale and ideas concerning Faerie here on this blog.
Do not hesitate to e-mail!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
An Art Nouveau Pre-Raphaelite Fairy Tale
Before I got married, I lived for a year in Wales, and the song "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" by Florence & the Machine was on the U.K.'s top ten list all summer.
It would be one of three songs I would bring with me to a desert island.
I don't know what about it first caught my attention, but I'm going to go with what seems obvious: it's just a beautiful melody. I liked to watch the Top 10 on television, so at the same time the music was wooing me, the video intrigued and enticed me.
I swore I'd seen the scene before.
Yep. That's because it evokes stepping into a quintessential Art Nouveau fairy tale painted by a pre-Raphaelite. (In my personal art jargon, this is the ultimate compliment.)
Anyway, the words flew out like pins here and there and stuck in my brain.
At the time I was undertaking my MA in Arthurian literature--actually writing my thesis on David Jones's The Anathemata--and was wading waist-deep in the Holy Grail motif and its imagery of sacrifice, fertility, and sacred ritual. As Chesterton says,
James Frazer would be proud.
It would be one of three songs I would bring with me to a desert island.
I don't know what about it first caught my attention, but I'm going to go with what seems obvious: it's just a beautiful melody. I liked to watch the Top 10 on television, so at the same time the music was wooing me, the video intrigued and enticed me.
I swore I'd seen the scene before.
Yep. That's because it evokes stepping into a quintessential Art Nouveau fairy tale painted by a pre-Raphaelite. (In my personal art jargon, this is the ultimate compliment.)
![]() |
Christina Rosetti, The Holy Grail |
Through the looking glass, so shiny and new,
how quickly the glamor fades.
I start spinning, slipping out of time.
Was that the wrong pill to take?
Raise it up!
You've made a deal,
and now it seems you have to offer up.
Raise it up!
Raise it up!
At the time I was undertaking my MA in Arthurian literature--actually writing my thesis on David Jones's The Anathemata--and was wading waist-deep in the Holy Grail motif and its imagery of sacrifice, fertility, and sacred ritual. As Chesterton says,
Ritual will always mean throwing away something; destroying our corn or wine upon the altar of our gods.Here was so much of what is poignant, mysterious, and real about myth, fairy tale, and legend.
James Frazer would be proud.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Featured Artist
Malissa Melrose
Ms. Melrose channels the fairytale feel in her aptly called folk art, using traditional mediums like cloth and clay.
Frog Prince, complete with gold ball and princess.
Madam of the deep Mare.
Anybody home? These sculptures are miniscule! The better to house wee ones.
She also has some charming Halloween trinkets. Shop on her site Sleepy Hollow Folk Art.
Enjoy!
My Top 5 Arthurian Works
5. The Once and Future King
In my opinion, the most comprehensive undertaking of the entire tale of Arthur since Malory (Tennyson's Idylls was a runner-up).
T.H. White writes with great attention to detail and knowledge of the customs and literary sources of Le Morte D'Arthur.
And his portrayal of evil, innocence, and dissolution is striking and intimate.
4. That Hideous Strength
Influenced by the poetry cycles of is friend Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis's third book in his space-science trilogy builds around Logres, the Pendragon, the druid Merlin, and the prophecy of Arthur's return.
This is one of my favorite books of all time, period.
Lewis's depiction of Merlin demonstrates the not-quite-complete transition from the ancient fallen world to the redeemed one and resonates with the sense of something "passing away" that, in my opinion, characterizes all great tales (The Lord of the Rings, Brideshead Revisited, etc.).
3. Le Morte D'Arthur
Malory took the time to gather from multiple sources, probably writing from memory since he was imprisoned at the time.
Le Morte can be likened to the Bible of Arthurian literature. It's full to the brim with just-beneath-the-surface symbolism and mythological subtleties that keep readers of every new generation coming back to Arthur's legends.
![]() |
artist unknown, found here |
2. Sir Gawain and the Greene Knight
The quintessential Arthurian quest, with a healthy dose of mystery, honor, and redemption.
The author is unknown, but Tolkien's translation is especially delightful.
1. The Anathemata
W.H. Auden called this work by David Jones "very probably the finest long poem in English in this century."
I regard it a sequel, an answer, and a successor to T.S. Eliot's Waste Land.
He successfully takes on and gives form to the profound mystery at the heart of every (Arthurian included) legend.
Truly awesome, in the old sense of the word.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Longing for the Elves
The Elves, first published in German in 1812 and translated in 1827, is a story written in the literary fairy tale tradition by Ludwig Tieck. Click the link to read the full version.
A recurring trait of Faerie is the altered passage of time, and in this story, the little girl who wanders across its borders returns to a family she does not recognize. There is usually a sense of bereavement--that is, sadness and loss--and the person is deeply changed.
Mary, the little heroine, later marries and embodies this profound change by giving birth to a child, whom she names Elfrida after the elves she befriended during her time in Faerie. Elfrida is still a child, so the reasoning is blurred as to whether or not she can maintain contact with the elves for her youth or her otherworldliness.
"Such wise children do not grow to age," says the child's grandmother, who has no knowledge of her enchanted origin, "they are too good for this world; the child, besides, is beautiful beyond nature, and will never find its proper place on Earth."
Though Faerie is dangerous, the peril that resonates most deeply is the dissatisfaction for the world upon one's return. At its essence, the longing-for-something-that-is-lost is universal. Fairy stories offer us a glimpse into that which we are missing. The best ones go a step further and attempt to communicate the missing itself.
The Elves is pretty good for that. Enjoy.
Please have a look at the fairy tale contest and share with friends.
A recurring trait of Faerie is the altered passage of time, and in this story, the little girl who wanders across its borders returns to a family she does not recognize. There is usually a sense of bereavement--that is, sadness and loss--and the person is deeply changed.
artist unknown |
"Such wise children do not grow to age," says the child's grandmother, who has no knowledge of her enchanted origin, "they are too good for this world; the child, besides, is beautiful beyond nature, and will never find its proper place on Earth."
Though Faerie is dangerous, the peril that resonates most deeply is the dissatisfaction for the world upon one's return. At its essence, the longing-for-something-that-is-lost is universal. Fairy stories offer us a glimpse into that which we are missing. The best ones go a step further and attempt to communicate the missing itself.
The Elves is pretty good for that. Enjoy.
Please have a look at the fairy tale contest and share with friends.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Poem: The Story-tellers
Huddled, our plumed bodies curve
in arabesque. Convex vertebrae
are charms; they
ward off the dark and cold.
We pass tales like glass
marbles back-and-forth,
in pinched beaks. Friction
warms our palms, our words.
Prometheus, have pity.
Breath ignites
salvaged kindling, a spark
as hot as a pin-prick.
Now we chant each others' stories,
a noisome flock in blanketing
gray and whisper a rumor
of dawn.
![]() |
P.J. Lynch, The Six Swans |
Still, this is not quite hitting the spot of what I want to do with it. The third stanza limps. I'm trying to find a way of showing how the friction of passing the stories back and forth ignites a spark. And I like the pin-prick, like when you get stung by the spark from a sparkler, but I don't know how to use it.
I wanted to say something about "a benediction."
Oh well. I guess now I should just let it sit.
Comments, constructive crit.? Please and thank you.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Truth-telling
This poem by Serena Fusek resounds on "the ends of the nerves." Here it is, re-produced in its entirety, because it embodies so much of what I want to accomplish here:
First of all, I am struck by the simple language. It's pure poetry, without any cliff notes to meaning. The words speak for themselves. She allows "drying dew," "crossroads," "wild mushrooms," and "rabbit's blood" to do their magic and dominate.
I challenge anyone not to feel the mysterious significance of "Pronounced with the lisp of a fox growling." On the surface, it probably speaks to the mystical fact that a poem comes from someone's in-most self, is guterral, primeval, and intuitive. But to explain it away dulls the deep-cutting edge of the line.
In a way, it's the opposite of the unusual word-pairing I've been doing with my poetry. While I like that the surprising uses challenge my reader to look at reality from a different perspective, I think I can learn from Ms. Fusek about using the heart of imagery to speak to the soul.
This poem is published on the aptly named Mythic Delirium.
Additionally, please see posts below for our fairy tale writing contest.
"The True Poem" is copyright Serena Fusek and Mythic Delirium.
The True Poem
The true poem
though spoken in
human tongue
is pronounced
with the lisp
of a fox growling
over a dead rabbit.
The true poem,
even when typed
on a computer,
is inscribed
in the rabbit's blood
by a quill
from a crow's wing.
Its letters are read
not by the eyes
but by the ends
of the nerves,
as Braille is read
by fingertips.
The Lady
and Her lover
trail through the poem,
their footprints
fading in the drying dew.
They pass
the crossroads
under the beam
of the Hanging Tree.
The white doe
watches from the hedges
of wild roses.
The true poem
may seem slight
but the must of
wild mushrooms
and leaf mold
worm through the lines.
As if Grandmother Spider
crawled over his nape,
the reader shivers.
First of all, I am struck by the simple language. It's pure poetry, without any cliff notes to meaning. The words speak for themselves. She allows "drying dew," "crossroads," "wild mushrooms," and "rabbit's blood" to do their magic and dominate.
I challenge anyone not to feel the mysterious significance of "Pronounced with the lisp of a fox growling." On the surface, it probably speaks to the mystical fact that a poem comes from someone's in-most self, is guterral, primeval, and intuitive. But to explain it away dulls the deep-cutting edge of the line.
In a way, it's the opposite of the unusual word-pairing I've been doing with my poetry. While I like that the surprising uses challenge my reader to look at reality from a different perspective, I think I can learn from Ms. Fusek about using the heart of imagery to speak to the soul.
This poem is published on the aptly named Mythic Delirium.
Additionally, please see posts below for our fairy tale writing contest.
"The True Poem" is copyright Serena Fusek and Mythic Delirium.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Quench Your Thirst with Goblin Fruit
Goblin Fruit is a delightful little e-publication whose work features the fantastical and surreal, often with a hint or more of wry humor. This spring's issue features a lot of water-themes.
I like the concrete movement in Kathrin Köhler's "Submersion":
and
Even the music of the words remind me of waves and tides.
Oh, and how uncomfortable does "Zac Efron Being Eaten by a Shark" by Jade Ramsey make you? Yikes! (A psychoanalyst would say here that food and sex are closely related.)
Season these tasty dishes with art that is evocative and stylistically primitive. Love the splashes of red. Goblin fruit, indeed.
Please consider supporting the outstanding poets and generous editors with a small donation.
I like the concrete movement in Kathrin Köhler's "Submersion":
seaweed growing serpentine through her hair,
undulating and hypnotic
and
The moon
caressing her skin
with cold light.
Pressed down by the weight of water
Even the music of the words remind me of waves and tides.
Oh, and how uncomfortable does "Zac Efron Being Eaten by a Shark" by Jade Ramsey make you? Yikes! (A psychoanalyst would say here that food and sex are closely related.)
Season these tasty dishes with art that is evocative and stylistically primitive. Love the splashes of red. Goblin fruit, indeed.
Please consider supporting the outstanding poets and generous editors with a small donation.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Poem: Cinderella Complex
My mother measures worth
in tidiness
how other people measure flour--
packed tight on the tipping scale--
in seconds spent bent over
steaming, screaming dishes
and strokes of the sticky-handled,
stiffened broom;
soggy potato peels collected for the
wormy compost;
hours wiping dull windows until
they disappear;
ironing pleated trousers
'til they stand on end;
intercepting dandelions
tiptoeing into the hedgerows;
inching together the seams of sheets
and flattening the breath out of them upon
the bed.
The earlier you rise, the later
you work, the better she knows:
the more staggering the contrast between
before-and-after,
like two color photographs on a double-page
home improvement ad--
the better to consider your humanity, my dear.
A jeweler weighs gold;
she balances solid value with
intrinsic density.
Now you tell me:
who is the stepmother and who
is Cinderella?
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Mag 117
knife, bowl, clothcreased from disusegrubby faces like cherubs' headsawait the miraculouscuresacred instruments(sword, grail, shroud)each plantedupon the altarclouds rumble but do notbreak fastobjects scatteredbefore the glacier-timehave been gatheredto tablewho will draw firstthe chalice to chapped lips?drink?seeds burstjuices flowthe waste land holdsits breath
![]() |
Paul Gauguin, The Meal |
Grace and Whimsy
Artist Sheilah Beckett
I first encountered this artist in a Little Golden Book, The Twelve Days of Christmas, which I saw in the checkout line at the grocery store and insisted that my mother buy me. I was enchanted by the details and elegance of the clothing, the ebbing hair, and the delicate hands and features.
When I googled her, I was delighted (to say the least) to see her fairy tale illustrations.
Each story has a slightly different style, which, I think, shows her flexibility as an artist.
Twelve Dancing Princesses |
from Sleeping Beauty |
Snow White and Rose Red |
Titania and Oberon |
![]() |
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs |
Hansel and Gretel |
Oh, wondrous internet, opening new worlds to me! (And yet more and more ways for me to spend money I don't have.)
For more of my favorite childhood fairy tale artists, click the link.
And don't forget to tell your friends about our fairy tale writing contest. I hope that even if you aren't a contest-type person that you will come back for the writing prompt exercises.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Poem: Vampire Lover
Here I stand, glittering
and cold as a breathless fish.
Paradoxically, I aim to smolder, to catch
a spark and ignite.
Kiss me, don't look closely
at the waxy sheen preserving
rotting cells and brittle sinews.
This glamor lasts past midnight,
as long as you fancy.
So let me help you believe
my sunrise ancestors didn't
strike the heart like a poison
spear. I will love you (feebly)
into damnation. One day, you'll wake
in musty sheets, bloodless like an insect,
and wonder when the guts went out
of sinning.
Obvious Twilight references are obvious. However, this isn't a criticism. From a commentary on an movie photo of Edward and co. standing shirtless in a river (wth?), it went in a quite different direction.
A rough draft. Thoughts, comments, constructive feedback please.
I'm playing around with the blog banner, so you may see it change a couple of times within the next week.
This one is from a vintage fairy tale illustration of Rumpelstiltskin.
Look here to see a contest in which you could win a $15 Barnes & Noble gift card!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Poetry Spotlight
Joshua Davis
This poem is by a friend of mine and is published in The Sandhill Review vol. 12. I had to share some of it. It is titled "Beauty," written by Josh Davis.
She asked for honey,
clover honey deep in the mouths of snow.
The prince kept bees. The merchant took
comb after comb until the prince
stood on the parapet, throat full of thorns.
I like how he makes the familiar story his own. Beauty wants honey, not a rose. "Mouths of snow" is arresting in its simplicity. The prince is angry, "throat full of thorns."
It goes on
She ate the honey, vowed to go
live with the prince among fountains and books,
blue-lit votives, gilded birds, statues that dance
when the moon hooks the night. The prince
never strayed into the morning. They dined
by dim tapers and laughed to soften the quiet.
Fountains and books don't sound too bad to me. (I think that's the point.)
I love "when the moon hooks the night." You know, when it's shaped like scythe and rises early, dragging the night sky with it. Three little words make such an impression.
![]() |
John Dickson Batten, Beauty and the Beast |
You can read the rest of it by requesting a copy of the literary magazine at sandhillreview@gmail.com.
You have a good chance of winning a $15 Barnes & Noble gift card. Click on the link to read the rules and participate!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Fairy Tale Contest
My wish is for this blog to be an interactive community for fairy tale writers, poets, and artists.
I mentioned in a previous post that I want to start a regular fairy tale prompt exercise, in which I post a photo, image, word, phrase, or song for inspiration. People can then link the fairy tale creations that result, and all participants will be encouraged to enjoy each others' work and give feedback, if desired.
To launch this exercise and get the word out, I am hosting a contest.
Two entries will be picked to each win a $15 Barnes & Noble gift card. That should do for a crisp, new soft-cover (but you can spend it on anything).
One winning entry will be picked at random. That's right, all you have to do is try and you stand a chance at winning. I don't want people to be discouraged because of lack of writing experience or because they feel that they don't stand a chance against competition.
That being said, I do want people to make an effort to write to the best of their ability.
Therefore, the other winning entry will be picked by me, based on originality, style, use of language and imagery, storytelling, and execution.
The contest will be open until June 1st. CONTEST POSTPONED. Please keep checking back with us to see when the contest will be opened and for the new deadline. Contest reinstated here.
Here is the prompt:
Follow the instructions bellow carefully. Failure to follow the guidelines may disqualify.
I mentioned in a previous post that I want to start a regular fairy tale prompt exercise, in which I post a photo, image, word, phrase, or song for inspiration. People can then link the fairy tale creations that result, and all participants will be encouraged to enjoy each others' work and give feedback, if desired.
To launch this exercise and get the word out, I am hosting a contest.
Two entries will be picked to each win a $15 Barnes & Noble gift card. That should do for a crisp, new soft-cover (but you can spend it on anything).
One winning entry will be picked at random. That's right, all you have to do is try and you stand a chance at winning. I don't want people to be discouraged because of lack of writing experience or because they feel that they don't stand a chance against competition.
That being said, I do want people to make an effort to write to the best of their ability.
Therefore, the other winning entry will be picked by me, based on originality, style, use of language and imagery, storytelling, and execution.
How to Participate
Here is the prompt:
copyright Lissie Elle Laricchia |
Follow the instructions bellow carefully. Failure to follow the guidelines may disqualify.
- Write a short fairy tale story or poem inspired by this photograph. It must be fantastic or mythical in nature. Other than that, the domain is entirely up to the author. Please no stories longer than 3,000 words. Must be suitable for young adults.
- Post the direct link to your entry using inlinkz below. Then comment to let me know you have entered.
- I retain the right to add to or alter the rules as needed.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Poem: Magic
Lucy Crane,The Elves and the Shoemaker |
A rough draft. Constructive criticism, etc., please and thank you.
Cobblers will tell you.
Bleary-eyed and woe-worn,
they drag themselves to bed
after the evening news,
a kaleidoscope of disjointed fragments:
treaties broken like twigs
over the knees of bullies;
laws devoured by smirking politicians who
dab their lips with a napkin;
peace toppled from a lofty wall
(all the king's men couldn't put it back together);
lives unraveled, children shed
like dead skin, putting Laius to shame.
Cobblers will tell you:
the making's gone out of them.
Slumber delivers.
The following morning,
after dry toast and black
coffee, the craftsman finds
upon the tidy work bench
supple leather of lordly red,
embroidered, fastened with brass
buttons and fixed with sturdy soles. He beholds
the glorious shoes.
Where did they come from--
rather, how could they be?
Magic worked in the night,
sewing, mending, singing.
Limbs reanimate. Art lives.
It might as well have been elves
that made them.
The Art of Editing
Self-editing is an art in itself, and as an art, it helps me to perform in front of an audience. So here's a look into how I edit. Taking the Snow White poem from a few days ago, I'll add my notes and adjustments. Commentary is welcome.
And a second draft.
Which version do you like better? Why? What would you suggest as a title?
Constructive criticism? Please and thank you.
I lie snow-
sleeping, my black hair brittle
branches, mirroring roots, [can't be both branches and roots]
in winter. Glass
surrounds me, my productive fingers [too abstract?]
still. I have swallowed last summer's
bitter apple and [cliche?]
died. But inside, my hands
still work away, sewing,
coaxing; drawing from the deep
and dark, dreams unfold. A prince [needs more]
arrives to kiss me, tell me
Wake up!Thespring
has come.
![]() |
artist unknown |
And a second draft.
I am porcelain
encased in glass. Snow-
sleeping I lie, twisted hair dark
as roots, fertile fingers limp
and robbed of rose-buds.
I have swallowed last summer's
green and acrid apple.
But inside, ghost hands
still work, sewing, furrowing,
coaxing, and drawing from the deep
and dark. Dreams unravel, until
inside this case, I am
teeming and ripe. The bitter seed
died, and I grew
a golden orchard.
A prince arrives to kiss, to
prune, to tell me
Wake up! Spring
has come.
Which version do you like better? Why? What would you suggest as a title?
Constructive criticism? Please and thank you.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Mag 116
All rivers reflect the Shannon;For Magpie Tales, a first draft. As always, constructive criticism desired and appreciated.
that old dame who bares swans
like white, scalloped cups.
I sipped her
offering, then jogged
in a chilled morn as thick as gelatin, bursting
through clouds of mote-flies and pockets
of lingering, sinking winter.
Relic walls run avenues of garbled stories to scribes,
disguised as rubble-towers, who guard
the old reservoir.
I made a gift of one of mine,
dropped it, hope-filled, as if I cast
a bottled message, sealed
from the current-voices.
Now when I meet a river
(it dips, I nod
a greeting), I scan its rippled
face for a wink--for a bobbing--for a delivery;
word from the source.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Artist Spotlight
Natalie Ewert
Nat is an ecclectic, multi-talented artist living in California. Her jewelry creations are especially fantastical, whimsical, and reminiscent of fairy tales.
His and her majesty, the Queen and King of the Ravens. These beads made of clay are waiting for someone to take them home and tell their story.
Talking skulls figure into a lot of folklore. The skeleton guard from The Last Unicorn comes to mind. These ones are especially whimsical with their flowered features and pink hue. Can't you see them stacked all in a row on the wall of magic garden or enchanted castle?
My favorite: every fairy tale dame needs a winged helper. In fairy tales and folklore, birds as messengers and magical agents abound.
Find even more inspiring pieces on her Etsy store, Dreamtrappings (don't you love that name?).
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