Petition to National Book Foundation on Behalf of Fairy Tales

I'm a few days late with this--I've been distracted the past several days with some offline projects--but I wanted to share this and add my endorsement to this project of Maria Tatar and Kate Bernheimer.

This is cross-posted on both their blogs.

October 24, 2010

To the National Book Foundation,

We write as strong supporters of all that the National Book Foundation does for American letters. But we are also puzzled about one point in the eligibility guidelines for the prestigious National Book Award. Currently the Foundation’s website states that “collections and/or retellings of folk-tales, myths, and fairy-tales are not eligible,” an exclusion that applies to the categories of both Fiction (for adults) and Young People’s Literature. Yet this body of literature is arguably one of the greatest literary influences on a vast number of contemporary American writers. Might the National Book Foundation reconsider this point in its guidelines?

Under the guidelines as stated above, John Updike’s 1964 National Book Award winner, the novel Centaur, would actually have been ineligible as it retells multiple classical myths. There are other examples of retellings among the wonderful books you have honored. In fact, we believe that the National Book Foundation already recognizes and embraces the literary value of retellings. Removing the exclusion would simply more accurately represent the Foundation’s actual practice, which represents a welcome appreciation of this iconic literary art form. Also,
it seems
 that
 the
 National
 Book
 Foundation
 intends
 to
 welcome
 formal
 diversity;
 as
 such,
 there
 is
 no 
exclusion
for 
“retellings
 of 
the
 Bible
 and
 Shakespeare’s 
plays.”

In changing its guidelines the National Book Foundation will take the opportunity to help preserve the enduring tradition of fairy tales for future generations of readers. While scholars cannot always trace fairy tales to single sources, new versions of these magical narratives are indeed literary works in their own right. In turn these newer versions help bring attention to a very old and diverse body of work, now fading from view. To acknowledge the value of fairy tales, folk tales and myths as they are appropriated, adapted, revised, fractured, and retold seems in line with the National Book Foundation’s overall mission.

In sum, we would be delighted to see the National Book Foundation change its National Book Award guidelines to allow retellings of fairy tales, folk tales, and myths. We would be glad to consult with you more on this matter, and truly appreciate your consideration of this request. We look forward to hearing from you with your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Maria Tatar John L. Loeb Professor of Folklore Mythology and Germanic Languages & Literatures, Harvard University Author, Enchanted Hunters: The Power of Stories in Childhood and The Annotated Brothers Grimm

Kate Bernheimer Writer in Residence & Associate Professor, University of Louisiana in Lafayette Author, Horse, Flower, Bird; editor, My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales; and founder and editor, Fairy Tale Review

To add your signature or support:

A few ways to join in the cause: ‘like’ the Facebook page called “Petition to the National Book Foundation”; leave a comment here saying you support the petition; or reach us directly by writing to fairytaleappeal [at] gmail.com

I do hope the National Book Foundation listens.  As the letter points out, so much great literature draws inspiration from folklore and fairy tales. It's a silly stipulation.

Scared Shrekless

And another fairy tale and Halloween crossover for Shrek fans. Yes, I bring you all the news. :)  I've never seen any of the Shrek specials--I don't watch enough tv to remember to watch these--but hopefully this one will be fun for the family. Personally, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is my favorite. I'm so old school.

From Scared Shrekless' with Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas; NBC Halloween special:

NBC announced the special Halloween feature “Scared Shrekless” which will air on October 28, 2010 for thirty minutes. The show features Mike Myers as Shrek, Cameron Diaz as Fiona, and Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots and Dean Edwards as Donkey.

Shrek is excited about Halloween, which is his favorite holiday, and wants to celebrate in true ogre fashion. Scared Shrekless will take place after the events in Shrek Forever After and will feature Shrek as he challenges Fiona, Donkey and Puss in Boots to spend the night in Lord Farquaad’s haunted castle. Shrek will tell scary tales and to see which of the fairy tale creatures will be first to leave ‘scared shrekless.’

NBC and Universal Media Studios President of Prime Time Entertainment Angela Bromstad released a statement regarding the teaming of NBC and DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. for the making of Scared Shrekless, “NBC is proud to team with DreamWorks Animation to broadcast such quality holiday programming that includes some of their many popular film characters. These animated specials will provide top-flight family entertainment for fans of all ages.”

Scared Shrekless will air on NBC on October 28, 2010 from 8:00 until 8:30 p.m., ET (7:00 EST).

Enchanted Castle for Halloween

Okay, true confessions that I don't love the scary side of Halloween.  I've never been a fan of horror films and such.  My favorite element is the fun for the young kids with the cute costumes.  So the following impressed me as a wonderful way to celebrate my favorite parts of Halloween and hold a fundraiser at the same time.

From Fairy Tales Come True in 'Enchanted Castle: Non-Scary Event at Burr Homestead Brings Storybook Characters to Life by Patti Woods:

"This has really become a Fairfield tradition...It's a real community event," said Kay Smith, co-chair of the event, she said, adding that kids volunteer from the middle schools and high schools and people contribute gifts for the "Take a Chance" game.

Here's how the castle works: Over the course of four full days, volunteers use their magic wands and creativity to transform six rooms in the Burr Homestead into a fairytale wonderland. Children are greeted by the King and Queen at the door and are handed a bag which they can use to stash their goodies. Then, in small groups, visitors are taken from one vignette to the next, where they hear stories and get treats. Dorothy tells about her experiences in Oz, Ariel tells about life under the sea, Jack Sparrow shows off his pirate treasure and Cinderella shares hugs with all the little girls who want to be just like her.

While the decorations are magical, it's really the characters that make the experience so wonderful for the children, said co-chair Debbie Charles.

From Fairfield's Enchanted Castle a 'non-threatening' alternative to scary haunted houses by Scott Gargan:

Taking place weekends through October, the annual event will see Fairfield's Burr Homestead transform into a kingdom of fantasy fiction, with the historic castle decked out in the style of "Aladdin," "Pirates of the Caribbean, "The Wizard of Oz" and other popular narratives.

Children will have the opportunity to walk through the castle and meet their favorite storybook characters -- Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother, Dorothy and the Scarecrow, the Little Mermaid and Sebastian, Belle from "Beauty and the Beast," Aladdin and Jasmine, pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth -- played by the Gomes twins and a cast of volunteers. Winnie the Pooh and Tigger also will great visitors as they arrive.

"It's so fun to see the kids when they come in and their eyes light up," said Shaun Amberg, co-chairperson of the Enchanted Castle. "They think they're seeing the real characters."

You can read more about the event at EnchantedCastle.org. This is in the New York state and Connecticut area.

Theatre: The Andersen Project

From The Andersen Project: This is not a fairytale by Richard Ouzounian:

You just know that when Robert Lepage sets out to put the story of Hans Christian Andersen on the stage, it’s not exactly going to be The Little Mermaid.

Lepage’s gift for finding the darkness inside any story has never been more manifest that it is in The Andersen Project, which Canadian Stage presents....
Andersen is practically canonized in his native Denmark for his bittersweet fairytales like The Little Match Girl and The Ugly Duckling, and most North Americans think of him in terms of the sticky sweet portrait that Danny Kaye delivered in the 1952 film Hans Christian Andersen.

But the real man was considerably more complex, living a life of sexual frustration in which he longed for women who would not have him and men who could not oblige him, ultimately turning to self-satisfaction for his release.

All of this is fascinating enough on its own, but Lepage just had to add an extra level of complication. So his story is told through the eyes of a Quebecois songwriter who has been commissioned to write an opera based on one of Andersen’s stories. During his preparation, he runs into a bizarre assortment of characters, mirroring the various twists and turns in Andersen’s life.

Lepage originally performed the work himself, but as it proved to have incredible appeal (it’s been presented in 10 countries so far), he needed to pass the acting reins on to someone else.

Sounds fascinating and certainly not like Danny Kaye's version...

Cinderella and Other Books for Halloween

Well, Halloween is in a week but it wouldn't be fun to list these books on that day for the holiday will almost be over, so here are some ghastly and semi-ghastly books for Halloween, especially two Cinderella books. If you are interested in titles for the under age five set, I also have my Halloween Storytime page that has some of my all time favorite titles, including Skeleton Hiccups and In a Dark, Dark Wood: An Old Tale With a New Twist. 

Now for the Cinderellas:

Cinderella Skeleton by Robert D. San Souci

Meet Cinderella Skeleton, as sweetly foul as only a ghoul can be. Poor Cinderella has no one to help her hang the cobwebs and arrange dead flowers--certainly not her evil stepsisters. But the Halloween Ball is just around the corner. . . . Will Cinderella find happiness at last?

Cinderhazel by Deborah Nourse Lattimore

Cinderhazel is a blonde witch who loves dirt more than anything else. When her stepsisters and stepmother fly off to attend the annual Halloween witches' ball, where the elusive Prince Alarming will make an appearance, they leave Cinderhazel behind. All her attempted spells turn to dust - until her witchy fairy godmother appears and sends Cinderhazel off to meet the equally messy prince. Could this be the beginning of filthily ever after?

And a few more not so fairy tale related, but nursery rhyme reminiscent:

   

Smooch Coming to TV as Frog Prince Film

From Michigan movie clips by Julie Hinds:

Smooch," a Hallmark Channel original movie that offers a fresh take on a classic fairy tale, is set to begin production Saturday in Detroit.

The cable television film is described as a live-action homage to the Brothers Grimm story "The Frog King," which is about a prince who's turned into a frog by a witch -- and a princess who helps him break the spell.

Kiernan Shipka -- she plays Don Draper's daughter, Sally, on "Mad Men" -- stars as Zoe, a girl who loves fairy tales and is looking for the ideal partner for her mother (Kellie Martin of "Life Goes On"). When Zoe drops a frog from her science class into San Francisco Bay, a handsome prince (Simon Kassianides) -- who's actually partied too much and fallen into a dinghy -- appears.

The movie is set to premiere next year sometime around Valentine's Day.

Well, that Frog Prince isn't on the list for a big screen treatment, so now it gets brought to the small screen instead. (And I am a Kiernan Shipka fan myself. She plays Sally brilliantly.)

Little Red Riding Hood Wins Writing Contest

From National writing award for Hitchin school girl by Laura Burge:

Isabel Lawther, 11, of Bramford Park Road, was the winner of the Take a Break magazine competition in the age 8-11 category, beating more than 3500 other hopefuls to the prize.

Her reward was an overnight trip to London and afternoon tea with bestselling author Anthony Horowitz and prime minister David Cameron at Downing Street.

“It’s a fantastic achievement,” said the prime minister of Isabel’s success.

“It takes a lot to risk writing your own story and sending it to a magazine.”

Isabel used her idea for the story from a creative writing project she wrote at her old school, Ickleford Primary.

She rewrote the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, turning the traditionally bad wolf into the good guy.

Entitled ‘Cherry’s Fairytales’, The Priory School pupil’s tale impressed the panel who said they loved the “sparky dialogue” of the story.

Proving once again the popularity of this tale... Now we'll have to see if this also appears online on November 4th.

Advertising: Cinderella and ghd

The above is the extended version of a new commercial for ghd in the UK. I've previously featured their Rapunzel campaign here on the blog.

From £3m Cinderella TV campaign for ghd:

A new £3m TV advertising campaign for hair styling product brand ghd is set to roll out, promoting its new Midnight Collection, the biggest campaign launched by the brand.

The campaign, created by RKCR/Y&R, features the new gold hair straighter from ghd in TV, outdoor, press and online activity.

***

Mike Cohen, ghd chief marketing officer, says, “The Cinderella creative - which turns another conventional fairytale on its head and demonstrates perfectly how ghd confidence can help women everywhere to become the “Belles of the ball” this Christmas.”

Also from GHD launches biggest ever campaign by Rosie Baker:

A 60-second television spot will break on Saturday (23 October) during the X-factor [UK].

The campaign includes three different TV executions designed to “establish and focus” the product message.

Online activity includes Facebook home page takeovers and outdoor activity includes a takeover of London’s Bond Street tube station and other tube stations in high footfall shopping destinations to capitalize on Christmas shopping.

The ad also features the track “Lucky you” from LA-based band Le Rev, which is signed to the independent record label Two black Cats set up by RKCR/Y&R.

Anyway, I thought it was one of the best sequences of Cindy's magic disappearing at midnight. And of course it's a very modern take on the tale, girl power all the way. She's not getting pretty for a prince who prefers to look at himself in the mirror.

Oh, and the products are pretty fancy, too.  You can see them at ghd Midnight Collection.

Bryan Singer 's Jack the Giant Killer Has Been Green Lit

As we all know, several movie projects are started but few ever make it to a final product we get to see. I've posted here before about Bryan Singer's interest in doing a movie version of Jack the Giant Killer. Apparently it has finally been green lit and should go into full production. So we can look for it sometime in the future. This one, I admit, interests me since it is not a tale frequently interpreted onto film for the big screen.

From ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ Has Green Light with Bryan Singer by Gig Patta:

New Line has given director Bryan Singer the green light for the remake of “Jake the Giant Killer.”

The story is a dark retelling of the English fairy tale, “Jack and the Beanstalk.” The script is written by Darren Lemke and Mark Bomback, who have previously worked on “Lost,” and “Die Hard 4.”

More specifically, it will be a remake of the 1962 version of “Jack the Giant Killer,” starring Kerwin Mathews and Judi Meredith. The story is about a farm boy that becomes a knight to fend off an evil wizard and protect a princess.

The next step is for someone to play Jack. According to Deadline, Singer is considering Aaron Johnson, who played Dave Lizewski in “Kick-Ass.” However, other young actors are in consideration as well.

From Bryan Singer’s ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ Officially Underway by Chris Schrader:

Bryan Singer had originally planned on getting Jack the Giant Killer before cameras this past summer, but concerns over the special effects and a script revamp prevented production from moving forward. Singer’s been biding his time with producer duties on X-Men: First Class, but now it looks like he’s all set for his trip up the beanstalk.

Deadline reports that Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have officially given Jack the Giant Killer the green light and filming is expected to begin this spring.

The film is a darker version of the classic Jack & the Beanstalk fairytale that starts with a shaky truce between humans and giants being broken. The title character leads an expedition into the giants’ kingdom in the hopes of rescuing a kidnapped princess.

When it was decided that the original script by Darren Lemke and Mark Bombak needed work, Singer contemplated directing X-Men: First Class for Fox in the meantime. Warner Bros. recognized that similar circumstances lead to the acclaimed filmmaker abandoning the X-Men franchise back in 2004 so that he could direct Superman Returns for them – and they weren’t about to let Fox get even.

Journal of American Folklore Special Issue: The European Fairy-Tale Tradition Between Orality and Literacy

The newest issues of the Journal of Amerian Folklore crossed my desk this week and it is a special issue devoted to fairy tales.

Journal of American Folklore Special Issue: The European Fairy-Tale Tradition Between Orality and Literacy (Volume 123, Number 490, Fall 2010).

Here's the table of contents:

Introduction

The European Fairy-Tale Tradition Between Orality and Literacy by Dan Ben-Amos

Articles

Straparola and the Fairy Tale: Between Literary and Oral Traditions by Jan M. Ziolkowski

The Invention of Fairy Tales by Francisco Vaz da Silva

Straparola: The Revolution That Was Not by by Dan Ben-Amos

Fairy Godfather, Fairy-Tale History, and Fairy-Tale Scholarship: A Response to Dan Ben-Amos, Jan M. Ziolkowski and Francisco Vaz da Silva by Ruth B. Bottigheimer

The issue is essentially a response to the controversy brought on by the publication of Ruth B. Bottigheimer's Fairy Tales: A New History (Excelsior Editions) a few years ago. This ended up being a somewhat hot topic at the AFS annual meeting last week, too, at least in one session. Essentially in the book, Bottigheimer argues for the literary history of fairy tales, discounting an oral tradition. The book has caused much controversy from its assertions (content) to its basic techniques and evidence (academic standards of presentation and argument).  This new issue of The Journal of American Folklore addresses both sides of the argument and gives Bottigheimer an opportunity to respond.

Overall, it's a fascinating argument and one that has been picked up by the media in recent years, too.  So it's important to be aware of the arguments and what is being claimed and then decide for yourself, of course.  For full disclosure, my expertise is in the literary tale, but I have dealt with oral tradition, too.  I stand firmly in the middle which may get me squashed for I think it takes both oral and literary traditions especially in our popular cultures to get us where we are today. I see the world as too fluid to choose absolutes.

 

Fairytale Reflections (6) Katherine Roberts at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Today gives us another Fairytale Reflections--(6) Katherine Roberts--at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles.

  

Katherine Roberts is another UK author who is not well known in the US, unfortunately. Most of her listings on Amazon USA are imports. You can see more listings on her Amazon.co.uk page.

However, you can read Roberts' short essay about The Snow Queen at Seven Miles today.  Here is a short excerpt, but as always, click through to read all of her thoughts on the tale.

But back to the story. As soon as I discovered that in this fairytale it is the boy – Kai – who gets kidnapped, and the girl – Gerda – who sets out on a quest to rescue him, I was hooked. After all those sugary little princess stories, here was a true heroine setting out on her own adventures! (I was Gerda, of course.) My memory of the actual adventures Gerda had on her quest is hazy, and I know these are often edited for simplicity, so maybe that’s why. The version of the tale I re-read for this post has Gerda encountering a witch living in a cottage in the woods who tries to keep her as her own little girl, then a princess with a long line of suitors seeking her hand who tries to marry her off, followed by a robber girl who supplies her with a reindeer, and finally two old women – a Lapp and a Finn – living alone in the snow, who feed and warm Gerda on her journey. The DVD version leaves out the Lapp and Finn women entirely, linking each of Gerda’s encounters to a different season so that she journeys through spring, summer, and autumn to find winter and the Snow Queen. I don’t think the details really matter. However, I do think that, on a deeper level, Gerda’s quest represents the stages of womanhood she will travel through in the world and perhaps that’s why this fairytale speaks to me so strongly.

I am enjoying the discussion of less popular fairy tales in this series. I now find myself wondering which fairy tale will be discussed each week...

Random News: Baba Yaga and Politics

In my news searches, I find many references to "fairy tales" in political and sports writing, none of which are pertinent here and are overall derogatory to fairy tales.  However, this one caught my attention and I'm happy I clicked through for it provided a taste of Russian culture and our favorite witch, Baba Yaga.

From Fairy-tale granny enters political fray over controversial budget:

Baba Yaga – a fairy-tale granny feared by Russian children – has entered the country's political arena.

***

Putin tried extra-hard to persuade the Communist leader to back the draft budget.

“Well, it's true that you always take budget discussions in parliament very seriously,” the PM said. “But it's also true that you act like the famous cartoon Baba Yaga, who always objects to everything.”

The cartoon Putin was referring to was filmed in the early 1980s.

In the original fairy tale, Baba Yaga is an old woman living in the forest who scares people away.

In the cartoon, she was depicted as a typical babushka who does not like modern things and objects to everything. She did, however, keep her wooden cabin in the forest – which had chicken legs for some reason, and could follow her instructions.

Those who were children in the 1980s still like to quote Baba Yaga's catch-phrase, “I object!”

And here's a video of the cartoon they referenced: