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An Important Announcement from CdF
Apologies to anyone who tried to visit the site late last week, only to find that it was down. We’ve been experiencing a lot of technical glitches lately and have been very unhappy with the way our host has been handling certain things. Because of this, we decided to move the website to a new host and with that move we have given the site a new domain. We apologise again if this causes confusion, but we believe it was the best thing we could do for the site and for you, our readers.
This site will remain static until October 1 of this year, … Read entire article »
Featured
The Heroic Journey in Shirley Lim’s Princess Shawl
The Heroic Journey in Shirley Lim’s Princess Shawl
by Nurul … Read more »
The Handless Maiden (revisited)
The Handless Maiden (revisited)
By Olivia V. Ambrogio
Once there was … Read more »
Popular
Bad Mothers by Anne Brannen
I knew my elder sister would return
to sweep the ashes. She would part
sugar from sand, … Read more »
Now and then
Now and then
By Sabrina Vourvoulias
I.
Wind it around me, I say,
I can take it.
Read more »
Folkpunk 101: A Reading List by Tanya B. Avakian
In the spirit of a college syllabus, I am offering a reading list of what I consider … Read more »
Latest
Green Witch
Green Witch
by Alice Hoffman, 2010
Reviewed by Donna Quattrone
Green Witch is the sequel to Green Angel, Hoffman’s spellbinding foray into the land of post-apocalyptic fairy tale. Both of these books detail a lyrical and deeply memorable exploration of love intertwined with loss, but either of the pair may be read on its own.
Green Witch begins one year … Read entire article »
New Issue of Scheherezade’s Bequest online
The tenth issue of Scheherezade’s Bequest is now live, offering stories and poems by Eric Marin, Claire Massey, Joshua Gage, Sonya Taaffe, Bruce Woods, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Patricia Russo, Rachel Manija Brown and more. In this issue we introduce you to the art of Lucy Campbell, whose work illustrates Olivia V. Ambrogio’s The Handless Maiden (revisited). Lucy captures the fearful wonder of the dark forest in vivid colours and firm strokes, using fairy tales and myth as her inspiration. We’ll be seeing more of Lucy’s art here on the site, as she has agreed to talk with us about our shared love of fairy tales.
We’d like to especially thank Nurul Huda for allowing … Read entire article »
Raven
Raven
By Claire Massey
There was once a queen and she had a little daughter, who was as yet a babe in arms; and once the child was so restless that the mother could get no peace, do what she would; so she lost patience, and seeing a flight of ravens pass over the castle she opened the window and said … Read entire article »
Snow White at the Automat
Snow White at the Automat
By Alex Dally MacFarlane
Coins pushed in
and the glass door opens
with a click.
Lunch, there,
on a plate in the slot
third from the left, seventh row up.
The napkins are thin and rough
like her bed sheets.
This is very different to before.
No mother
smiling dangerously at her
over … Read entire article »
Afternoon Tale
Afternoon Tale
By Patricia Russo
My niece asked me for a story. It was a hot summer afternoon, and she was bored with her toys and her books and her game screen. What kind of story, I asked. A story about heroes, she said. You mean, like the boy who killed the bear who had three heads, … Read entire article »
Fairyland
Fairyland
By F.J. Bergmann
Glintfleur says hers can talk,
although I don’t believe her.
It’s the same size as mine,
but it wriggles more. Mine used to
scream when I pinched it
and covered it with pink flowers
but now it either whimpers
or doesn’t make any sound at all.
Ashpuppet fastened his high up
in the storm-tossed branches of an … Read entire article »
The Labyrinth and the Knight
The Labyrinth and the Knight
By Rachel Manija Brown
Thanks to Dan Blum for the prompt.
The courtiers stared at me when I entered the throne room at the King’s command. They always stare, though they have seen me often enough to become familiar with my appearance: a knight in armor of unrelieved black from helmet to boots, without a patch of … Read entire article »
A Correspondence from the Queen
A Correspondence from the Queen
by Annclaire Livoti
When word reached her of Rip Van Winkle,
Her Majesty summoned pen and parchment
and wrote him an epistle that began:
Dear Mr. Van Winkle, upon hearing of your plight,
I could not help but sympathize….
When a reply arrived, the letter was barely legible,
bearing the hesitant scrawl of one who had … Read entire article »
Now and then
Now and then
By Sabrina Vourvoulias
I.
Wind it around me, I say,
I can take it.
Only the young
and very stupid say this.
Or believe that magic will remain
butterscotch,
smooth and thick and
a joy to lick off the lips.
II.
Rosewater.
Rose petals.
Rose hips.
Rose of Castile. Wild
and briar rose.
Read entire article »
CdF in Print
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making began as a book-within-a-book in Catherynne M. Valente's adult novel, Palimpsest, a part of the protagonist’s childhood, a strange novel for children written in the 1920s, about a young girl spirited away to Fairyland by the Green Wind, and her adventures there, battling the wicked Marquess, befriending outlandish creatures, and growing up. Available to read online with donations requested.
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