Tag Archives: seattle creative writing class

Femke Hiemstra and the Secret World

If you’re a fan of the classic old fairy tale illustrators like Dulac and Rackham, you’ve probably enjoyed the many and marvelous artists coming up in the world of Pop Surrealism in the past decade or so. From intensely creepy (but still enchanting!) works from Ray Caesar to the light and sugary images of Julie West, magical landscapes and enchanted creatures seem to be hiding around every corner in the art world lately.

And I, for one, couldn’t be happier.

So it pleases me greatly to announce a new show by up-and-coming Dutch artist Femke Hiemstra at the Roq la Rue art gallery here in Seattle. Her beautifully realized paintings and drawings of magical creatures in the midst of peculiar circumstances make me swoon.

The show opens November 1, but if you can’t make it to Seattle you’ll have to content yourself with her marvelous blog and website. She’s got a rich online gallery and a nice selection of prints in her shop. Prints start around 80 euros, plus shipping, and are totally worth it.

She’s cute, too.
Ze artiste

Mermaids and such

So, if you’re not familiar with SurLaLune, you should be. It’s a deep, delicious site with enough intellectual horsepower to satisfy the most academic among us, and enough wonder and delight to keep all those smarts from getting too heavy. They’ve started publishing collections of fairy tales with various themes (maidens in towers, etc.), and the latest one is a collection of mermaid stories.

To celebrate and help promote this worthwhile endeavor, let us take a moment to revisit the most famous mermaid story of all: The Little Mermaid. When’s the last time you actually read that story? It may not be as sweet and frothy as you remember…

“FAR out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea King and his subjects. We must not imagine that there is nothing at the bottom of the sea but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the most singular flowers and plants grow there; the leaves and stems of which are so pliant, that the slightest agitation of the water causes them to stir as if they had life. Fishes, both large and small, glide between the branches, as birds fly among the trees here upon land. In the deepest spot of all, stands the castle of the Sea King. Its walls are built of coral, and the long, gothic windows are of the clearest amber. The roof is formed of shells, that open and close as the water flows over them. Their appearance is very beautiful, for in each lies a glittering pearl, which would be fit for the diadem of a queen.”

Student faves: Bearskin

I’d never read this one before, and was delighted by it! It showcases two of my favorite motifs: animal transformation and beating the Devil.

THERE was once a young fellow who enlisted as a soldier, conducted himself bravely, and was always the foremost when it rained bullets. So long as the war lasted, all went well, but when peace was made, he received his dismissal, and the captain said he might go where he liked. His parents were dead, and he had no longer a home, so he went to his brothers and begged them to take him in, and keep him until war broke out again. The brothers, however, were hard-hearted and said, “What can we do with thee? thou art of no use to us; go and make a living for thyself.” The soldier had nothing left but his gun; he took that on his shoulder, and went forth into the world. He came to a wide heath, on which nothing was to be seen but a circle of trees; under these he sat sorrowfully down, and began to think over his fate. “I have no money,” thought he, “I have learnt no trade but that of fighting, and now that they have made peace they don’t want me any longer; so I see beforehand that I shall have to starve.” All at once he heard a rustling, and when he looked round, a strange man stood before him, who wore a green coat and looked right stately, but had a hideous cloven foot.

Read the rest of the story

Two awesome things at once

Thing the first: Gypsy Thornton over at Once Upon a Blog: Fairy Tale News just published a long, juicy interview with Yours Truly!

Excerpt:

FTNH: Why did you start the Fairy Tale Factory? What prompted the idea?

AMY: …I…hope, in my more optimistic moments, that this class will give people some new tools to cope with hard times. I hope to inspire people, to encourage them to trust their own voices, and to help them connect with beauty in the world and in themselves. I especially want to help people find beauty in the parts of themselves that seem dark and scary. Like that Rilke quote about all our dragons really being princesses just waiting for us to be brave.

Read the whole thing.

Thing the second:

Fairy tale fan Lisa Cote sent me a link to the animated version of Oscar Wilde’s story, “The Happy Prince.” Beautiful stuff. Thanks, Lisa!

Snow White Meets…the HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS!

I generally try not to succumb to the wild, desperate advances of all the fairy tale kitsch that’s lurking out there in the forest, but I just can’t resist this one. It was the phrase, “Uh oh, somehow that wicked queen OD’d Snow White!” that got me:

You’re welcome.

Call for Entries

Hey, everyone – Kate Wolford from DiamondsandToads is putting out a new online magazine called Enchanted Conversation and is taking submissions. Read on for guidelines!

To: amy@writefairytales.com

I have a blog called Diamondsandtoads.com, which focuses on the study, art and enjoyment of fairy tales.

I am starting a new online magazine, called Enchanted Conversation, and am sending out a call for “Sleeping Beauty” themed articles. Anything – from the newly-awakened cook’s point of view to how the prince and princess are doing after 10 years of marriage, to – well, you get it. It’s a paying market (modest). It’s at EnchantedConversation.net. You can check out submission tips on the left.

Please tell your workshop students that a new market is out there.

I have writer’s block

So I’ve been trying to write this one story for over three years. It’s short. It uses classic motifs. It should be easy. I’ve outlined it from beginning to end at least three times, which is usually my most difficult step. Once the outline is done, I bang out the story in one quick sitting, spend a week or two on revisions, and huzzah – on to the next thing.

So what’s the big deal with this one tale?

I have fallen into a common trap: I can’t separate my inspiration from my creation. There comes a time in the life of every story when the author must start doing what’s right for the tale, even if that means cutting out the things that initially inspired her. It’s like being a good parent: You had your heart set on your kid being a librarian or professional skateboarder; but as she grows up, it becomes clear that she is built for dentistry. If you ignore her gift for orthodontics and instead force her to spend her days at the skate park, you are doing her a disservice. As her parent, your job is to help her realize her best potential, even if it looks different than you thought it would at first. Same thing with authors and stories.

My story, initially, was about my grandparents. I loved my grandparents deeply, and I want to write a fairy tale about them and for them. This is a lot of emotional responsibility for my fledgling story. As I started my first drafts, I then got tangled up in a torturous, crazymaking love affair – and the story started being about that, too! So right out of the gate I am forcing my poor little story to carry a couple of massive suitcases around, like an 8-year-old bellhop at a third-rate hotel. And because I have all this STUFF that I want my story to do, I can’t just let go and have fun with it. Every time I start writing, I am so aware of my need to write a Great Love Story about Fidelity, Integrity, Home, Family, Femininity, Masculinity (can’t leave anyone out!), Creativity, and Identity. Oh, yeah – and it has to have cool imagery, great plot twists, and Zen-master control of language.

Phew! That’s a lot! My story slowly became a stinky chore. I now feel the same way about writing my story that I do about cleaning out the basement.

How can I make my story fun again? I have to release my terrible expectations. I have to accept that my story may never be a professional skateboarder. Then I have to commit to exploring what my story actually is instead of what I think it should be. Maybe dentists aren’t so bad…

All it takes is letting go. That’s not so hard, is it? [ahem]

Garrison Keillor on Writing

Favorites from Students: Hansel and Gretel

ONCE upon a time there dwelt on the outskirts of a large forest a poor woodcutter with his wife and two children; the boy was called Hansel and the girl Gretel. He had always little enough to live on, and once, when there was a great famine in the land, he couldn’t even provide them with daily bread. One night, as he was tossing about in bed, full of cares and worry, he sighed and said to his wife: “What’s to become of us? How are we to support our poor children, now that we have nothing more for ourselves?”

“I’ll tell you what, husband,” answered the woman, “early tomorrow morning we’ll take the children out into the thickest part of the wood; there we shall light a fire for them and give them each a piece of bread; then we’ll go on to our work and leave them alone. They won’t be able to find their way home, and we shall thus be rid of them.”

A KING was once hunting in a great wood, and he hunted the game so eagerly that none of his courtiers could follow him. When evening came on he stood still and looked round him, and he saw that he had quite lost himself. He sought a way out, but could find none. Then he saw an old woman with a shaking head coming towards him; but she was a witch.

`Good woman,’ he said to her, `can you not show me the way out of the wood?’

`Oh, certainly, Sir King,’ she replied, `I can quite well do that, but on one condition, which if you do not fulfil you will never get out of the wood, and will die of hunger.’

`What is the condition?’ asked the King.

`I have a daughter,’ said the old woman, `who is so beautiful that she has not her equal in the world, and is well fitted to be your wife; if you will make her lady-queen I will show you the way out of the wood.’

The King in his anguish of mind consented, and the old woman led him to her little house where her daughter was sitting by the fire. She received the King as if she were expecting him, and he saw that she was certainly very beautiful; but she did not please him, and he could not look at her without a secret feeling of horror. As soon as he had lifted the maiden on to his horse the old woman showed him the way, and the King reached his palace, where the wedding was celebrated.