1

The Newsletter of the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy

Aug-Sept 2014

2

Contents

Gramarye issue 5 out now ... 3

Events at the Centre, 2014-15 5

Wonderlands PGR conference 8

Folklore Map of Sussex and the South Downs 11

Chichester Meets the Elphinstone 12

Other Upcoming Conferences 13

Scotland's International Storytelling Festival 18

Hobbit Day and Tolkien Week 19

3

Gramarye issue 5 out now ...

This issue’s contents include:

• ‘The Case of the Ebony Horse’ (Part I), Ruth B. Bottigheimer

• ‘By Fynnon Ddu’, Katherine Langrish• ‘Fairy-Tale Adaptation in Jim Henson’s

“The Storyteller”’, John Pazdziora• ‘Two Tales from Odds and Sods’,

Stephen Badman• ‘“Iron is Stronger than Grief, but

Love is Stronger than Iron”: Reading Fairy-Tale Emotions through Words and Illustrations’, Maria Nikolajeva

• ‘My Favourite Rhymes and Stories when I was Young: Idaho Folklore in the 1940s’, D.L. Ashliman

• A review of Cristina Bacchilega’s Fairy Tales Transformed? Twenty-First-Century Adaptations and the Politics of Wonder and Mar tine Hennard’s Reading, Translating, Rewriting: Angela Carter’s Translational Poetics, Sadhana Naithani

• A review of Karl Bell’s The Legend of Spring-heeled Jack: Victorian Urban Folklore and Popular Cultures, Scott Wood

• A review of Jack Zipes’ The Golden Age of Folk and Fairy Tales: From the Brothers Grimm to Andrew Lang, Lili Sarnyai

4

• A review of Kate Bernheimer’s xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths, Catriona McAra

Not to mention images by Walter Crane, Edmund Dulac, Charles Folkard, Brian Froud, Warwick Goble, Arthur Rackham and Binette Schroeder.

To order your copy go to our online store, or you can purchase a copy from the following bookshops:

• Atlantis Books (London)

• Byre Books (Wigtown)

• Dave’s Comics (Brighton)

• Emporium Bookshop (Cromarty)

• Foyles (London)

• Haslemere Bookshop

• Kims (Chichester)

• Nemetona (Montrose)

• Practical Magick (Knaresborough)

• Transreal Fiction (Edinburgh)

• Treadwells (London)

• Waterstone’s (Chichester)

• Way Out There And Back (Littlehampton)

• White Witch (Waltham Abbey)

• Word Power (Edinburgh)

5

Dr Darren Oldridge, 'Fairies, Imps, Goblins and Bogies in Early Modern England'Thursday 23rd October 2014, 5.15-6.30 p.m., Cloisters Dr Darren Oldridge teaches History at the University of Worcester. He is a specialist in early modern religious history, with a particular interest in witchcraft and the Devil; his most recent books are The Devil: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press: 2012) and The Devil in Tudor and Stuart England (2nd edition: History Press 2010). At present he is writing a study of the supernatural in early modern England, to be published by Routledge next year.

Tickets £5/£3 concessions, free to University staff and students.

Events at the Centre, 2014-15

Our events this year are kindly sponsored by:

6

Jacqueline Simpson, 'Folktales of England'Tuesday 4 November, H149, 3-5 p.m.

England's foremost living folklorist, Folk-lore Advisor to Terry Pratchett and the Centre's Visiting Professor of Folklore, Jacqueline Simpson will present an introduction to England's folktales. England has rather more folktales than people assume, including many local and migratory legends, though they are mainly Sagen not Märchen.

Tickets £5/£3 concessions, free to University staff and students.

Dr Steve O'Brien, 'British and Irish Folktales'Wednesday 21st January 2015, 5.15-6.30 p.m., Room H144Editor of the London Magazine, Visiting Fellow of Creative Writing at Chichester, and Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, Steve O'Brien will be presenting his retellings of British and Irish folktales. His poetry collections include Dark Hill Dreams and Scrying Stone.

Tickets £5/£3 concessions, free to University staff and students.

7

Kate MosseSpring 2015, tbc

(Image credit: The Telegraph)

Kate Mosse is the multi-million bestselling novelist whose book Labyrinth was #1 in UK paperback for six months and was named one of the Top 25 books of the past 25 years by the bookselling chain Waterstones. Translated into thirty languagesandadaptedasamajortelevisionfilmonChannel4 at Easter 2013, it was followed by the equally successful Sepulchre and Citadel, and several short story collections.

For all events, e-mail h.robbins@chi.ac.uk for more information or to book your tickets.

8

Wonderlands: Reading/Writing/Telling Fairy Tales and Fantasy

PGR Symposium, 23 May 2015, University of ChichesterTimed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this event is primarily aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers, although other scholars and the general public will be welcome.

We are delighted to announce that Professor Diane Purkiss of OxfordUniversity,whoisalsoacreativewriteroffantasyfiction(under the pseudonym ‘Tobias Druitt’), will give the Keynote Lecture, five years after her inaugural lecture at the SussexCentre in 2010. Other speakers may include Alice illustrator John Vernon Lord and creative writer and storyteller Steve O'Brien. The day will close with a series of performances from professional storytellers which engage with the theme of wonder lands.

Call for PapersWe are seeking papers which explore all aspects of reading, writing, and telling fairy tales and fantasy. In particular, we invite discussion of wonder lands in fantastical literature, classic and modern fairy tales, and contemporary oral storytelling. Possible topics of focus include, but are not limited to:• Other worlds, otherworldliness, Wonderland, and wonder lands • Relationships between reading, writing, and/or telling fantasy

9

• Contemporary scholarship in children’s and adult’s fantasy literature

• Storytelling as a vehicle for the fantastic • Practice and performance of fairy tales• Fantasticalnon-fiction• Relationships between real and imagined wonder lands• Meta-textual conversations with classic fantasy literature• Imagining the fantastical world through illustrations and

picture books We also welcome paper submissions or panel presentations which include a creative or performative element.

Please submit abstracts of no more than 300 words (or panel proposals of 1,000 words) and a short personal bio to the organisers, Joanna Coleman, Joanne Blake Cave, and Rose Williamson at wonderlands.symposium@gmail.com. The deadline for submission will be 31st January 2015. Registration dates will be announced on the Sussex Centre website in the near future at http://www.sussexfolktalecentre.org.

10

We'reGlobalfromtheWestCoast–we'vegotyourfictionfix!

@TZPPBooks

questions@zharmae.com

submissions@zharmae.com(Advertisement)

11

Folklore Map of Sussex and the South Downs

Here's a sneak peek at our free downloadable map of Sussex and South Downs folktales and traditions, to be released Summer 2015. With hyperlinks to parking and places to eat, visiting the haunts of witches and black dogs, strange tumuli and lost, still-ringing church bells has never been easier.

Folklore Quiz!Pleasehelpustofindoutwhetherthismapwillbeusefulinpro-moting this area's rich folklore heritage by completing our quiz!

12

Chichester Meets the Elphinstone by Elizabeth Rainey

The Inaugural Steppin Steens o Knowledge Folklore, Ethnology, and Ethnomusicology Conference at Aberdeen University was a splendid event, marked by a lone piper at Crathes Castle and a thoughtful keynote delivery on ‘How Musicians Align their Practice with Publics’ by Byron Dueck, from the Open University. It was organised with a great deal of enthusiasm, including contributions on the Shetland Boat, Unicorns and Scottish Fiddle Music among many other themes, allowing early-career researchers to network and have their voices heard by a sympathetic peer group. The inclusive nature of the conference and the wide variety of presenters was a

13

reassuring aspect of the Scottish-led organisation, with Sara Reith’s paper on Stanley Robertson, ‘Journey, Progression and the Application of Traveller Traditions’ to my mind the most memorable piece, delivered with a great deal of care.

Other delegates came from France, Turkey, the United States Sri Lanka and Australia and were all made very welcome bythevolunteers.Asafirst-timevisitortothecity,Iwasstruckby the openness of the place, its green expanses and dramatic coastline. As Aberdeen Grammar was attended by Lord Byron, the local topography of the city no doubt inspired his work. Rain-soaked days and a series of guided walks and excursions punctuated the papers and talks, as did the eclectic catering service – purveyors of haggis, local mussels and salmon to researchers. Aberdeen undergraduate robes are shorter than others, according to one local tale, because of the murder of a university disciplinarian by his charges – or maybe mitigate that to accidental death.

Other stories of the violent history of the region were revealed by the dramatic ruins of Dunnottar Castle, clinging onto the cliff face, scene of a massacre of Covenanters (see photo). Links with the Elphinstone Institute and the Sussex Centre seem to be fruitful, since the over-arching rubric study of Folklore produces such exciting local stories, performances and contrasting interpretations of narratives. Therefore, students working in the fieldmaycontinuethisinitialcontactonlineorinthesupportiveChichester and Bognor research arena.

14

Other Upcoming Conferences

Folklife Studies Annual Conference11-14 September, Killarney, Rep. of IrelandThe annual conference is a friendly four-day event held at various locations in Great Britain and Ireland in September. It includes papers by Society members and eminent guest lecturers and study excursions to local sites of interest. The conference provides an unique opportunity for the exchange of ideas and information on an informal basis.http://www.folklifestudies.org.uk/category/conference/

CfP for 'There and Back Again: Tolkien in 2015'The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Ohio State University (20-1 February 2015; deadline 1 October 2014)http://cmrs.osu.edu/events/pcdp/2015-tolkien/cfp

15

The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the Ohio State University invites abstracts and panel proposals for its second academic conference on Popular Culture and the Deep Past, devoted this year to the works of and world surrounding J.R.R. Tolkien. In keeping with the PCDP idea, this will be a full-fledgedconference,itselfnestedinabroader'carnival'ofpopular and traditional cultural events and activities, including food- and culture-ways demonstrations, exhibits of artwork, books, and manuscripts, combat, gaming, and cosplay. (If you wish to submit a proposal for a non-academic presentation or activity, or otherwise participate in 'Tolkien Day' as an organizer or volunteer, please see our separate 'Tolkien Day' CFP at cmrs.osu.edu/events/pcdp/2015-tolkien/carnival.)

The American Folklore Society Conference, 5-8 NovFairy-tale related papers at Sur La Lune.

CfP for the 'Enchanted Edwardians' conference (deadline 5 December), to be held at the University of Bristol, 30-1 March 2015.This invites 300-word proposals for papers on any aspect of the theme ‘Enchanted Edwardians’, from scholars working in all fields of British culturec.1895-1914.Full information here.

16

CfP: Vernacular Religion, Folk Belief, and Traditions of the Supernatural23-28 March 2015, MacauThis international academic conference promotes under standing of why and how folk belief and supernatural experiences occur as well as how they may be compared across cultures and genres. Papers are particularly encouraged on urban traditions and comparisons between supernatural narratives belonging to religion, folk belief, science, and entertainment.For more information see http://www.islanddynamics.org/

Folklore: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow CfP: The Folklore Society’s AGM Conference 2015, 17-19 April2015,SheffieldUniversity.This conference seeks to address key questions within our discipline in terms of its identity and self-definition, its practices and, byextension, its future. Placing British folklore scholarship in its broader international framework, the conference seeks to identify and strengthen the reciprocal relationships that exist throughout our discipline. http://www.folklore-society.com/events/folklore-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow

17

CfP: Tolkien at Kalamazoo, May 2015The paper sessions are:• Tolkien’s Beowulf: This session will focus on the recent

publication of the translation by his son Christopher, how it relates to other Tolkien works and to Tolkien’s mythology.

• TolkienandmedievalVictorianism:examinesinfluencesonTolkien’s scholarship and mythology by Victorian writers, genres, and culture.

• Tolkien as linguist and medievalist: focusses on Tolkien’s linguistic and medieval influences as sources for hisscholarship and the construction of his legendarium, as well as Tolkien’s own invented languages.

http://www.mythgard.org/2014/06/cfp-tolkien-at-kalamazoo-2015/

Exhibition: Making of Mordor, Wolverhampton20 Sep 2014 – 17 Jan 2015Exploring links between the Black Country of the early 1900s and JRR Tolkien’s fantasy land of Mordor, this exhibition brings togetherpaintings,photographs,filmandwritinginspiredbytheindustrial powerhouse of the West Midlands. As well as images from Tolkien’s sketchbooks, first editions of The Lord of the Rings and iconic illustrations by Ted Nasmith, the show includes contemporary works by Richard Billingham, Brian Griffin andinternationally acclaimed installation artist Olafur Eliasson. http://www.tolkiensociety.org/2014/08/making-of-mordor-exhibition-in-wolverhampton/

18

Scotland's International Storytelling Festival, 24 Oct-2 Nov

Part of Homecoming Scotland 2014, this year’s festival aims to share the vibrant stories of Edinburgh.

Dive into the world of Robert Louis Stevenson in an event that combines music and the poetry, diaries and letters of Scotland's best-loved author, or enter the darker side of history with an exploration of the Scottish witches - were they devil worshippers, healers, or gender rebels? And every evening, join storytellers around the hearth for a relaxed, traditional session of sharing tales.

As well as the best Scottish storytellers, international guests will once again gather at the festival to create spaces for sharing tales across cultures.

A particular highlight of this year’s festival will be All Hallows Eve, the Night of Samhain, the Gaelic festival that was the precursor to Hallowe'en. This year, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival will celebrate this special night with an event around the hearth, storytellers and musicians gathering together to welcome the winter and the spirits of the past.http://www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk/news/scotlands-stories

19

Hobbit Day and Tolkien Week

Tolkien Week was invented by the American Tolkien Society and is always around September 22, Hobbit Day, as Bilbo's and Frodo's birthday, the date of the Long-expected Party, was on 22 September.

BrisbaneThe Brisbane Tolkien Fellowship are celebrating with a Hobbit Picnic in the Park, Hobbit Story Time, Middle-earth Barefoot Bowls, An Evening in Middle Earth and various library events. http://proudfootesq.com/tolkien-week-celebrations-2014/

20

If you have any queries or feedback about this newsletter, please contact Heather Robbins at

h.robbins@chi.ac.uk