The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic

The January Patreon Fairy-Tale Salon
2022-01-26 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
January Salon:

Hi all, here is the info for Salon #10!

Date: January 26th, 2022 at 7PM ET

Prompt: How do you make January magical?

Quest: January has always felt like the least magical month to us (no offense, Capricorns!) The enchantment of the holidays is over and it’s back to work, the skies are grey, and there’s a chill in the air that you just can’t seem to shake. So we want to know – what do you do to bring a little magic into the first month of the new year? Is there anything special that injects a bit of spark into your step? We want to hear all about it!

If you’d like to participate, just make sure that you’re on the Salonnières tier or higher for the month of January! See you on the 26th!

The January Book Club - The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher
2022-01-18 19:00 - 20:00 | Crowdcast
Join us on January 18th at 7PM ET to discuss T. Kingfisher’s novel The Seventh Bride!

The Seventh Bride is a Bluebeard retelling, but it’s also so much more – it brilliantly plays with all kinds of familiar fairy-tale tropes and centralizes the importance of female friendship and support.

Also, it’s wildly creative, decidedly creepy, and weirdly heart-warming at times.

If this isn’t enough to convince you, T. Kingfisher (the pen name Ursula Vernon uses to distinguish her more adult-themed work from the children’s lit and middle grade she publishes under her legal name) won TWO Hugo awards last week, which is amazing and super well-deserved!

NPR compares The Seventh Bride favorably to Peter Beagle and Diana Wynne Jones, writing:

“Stylistically, Seventh Bride is stripped-down and straightforward, wasting little space on elaborate scene-setting. That bluntness is appropriate to [the protagonist]’s perspective as an uneducated peasant whose most significant experience of the world involves fighting a bullying swan for her daily lunch. So it’s a surprise that Bride most closely resembles Peter Beagle’s elegant, poetic novel The Last Unicorn, with its phantasmagoria of witches, nobles, sorcerers, and great powers. (The two books even share a key image, in the form of a magical and not entirely physical clock.) Vernon has Beagle’s knack for creating colorful, instantly memorable characters, and inhuman creatures capable of inspiring awe and wonder. For that matter, Vernon sometimes feels like Diana Wynne Jones’ heir, with her stories of aggrieved heroes trying to bull their way through comic magical chaos.”

We CAN’T WAIT to talk about this glorious novel with you! To join us, make sure you’re on the Willow tier or higher on our Patreon!

The 2021 Winter Solstice Extravaganza!
2021-12-21 19:00 - 22:00 | Crowdcast
Click here to find out all about our big winter event with Dr. Steve Winick on December 21st, 2021 at 7PM ET!

The December Book Club - Where the Wolf by Sally Rosen Kindred
2021-12-15 19:00 - 20:00 | Crowdcast
Our Patreon book club is reading the gorgeous poetry book Where the Wolf by Sally Rosen Kindred this month! Our meeting will be on December 15th, 2021 at 7PM EDT. As a special bonus, we’ll be joined by the author herself!

“These poems explore how stories—fairy tales, family memories, myths, and dreams—tell us, and let us tell each other, who we are, and what’s wild and sacred in our connections. From “the beast your mother made/ who scans hood and bed,” to the ghost-guard summoned by a child on the night her family fractures, to the teenage son who transforms into “beauty, his dread-body,” the beings in these poems are themselves stories, spells: alchemized through language, always becoming, bearing hope and loss. They fragment in anxiety, and form into new wilderness. They open themselves to reconstruction, redemption.” – Diode Editions

Check Patreon for the link to join us if you’ve pledged at a $7+ tier!

Profs & Pints Online: How the Nutcracker Came To Life Lecture
2021-12-13 19:00 - 20:30 | Crowdcast
Profs and Pints Online presents: “How the Nutcracker Came to Life,” with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.

[This talk will remain available in recorded form at the link given here for tickets and access.]

We’ve been telling versions of the story of “The Nutcracker”for more than 200 years, and our cultural attachment to it hasn’t wavered. But many who watch it performed on stage or screen, or hear it played by a symphony, don’t really know much about how the story was originally told, or how it came into being.

Prepare to grab a bowl of chestnuts or sugar plums or whatever you’re snacking on this holiday season and let Profs and Pints Online take you on your own magical journey to learn about the origins of “The Nutcracker” and its characters. Your guides on this scholarly adventure will be Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, whose fantastic talks on folklore, myths, and legends have earned them a big following among Profs and Pints fans.

They’ll start by looking at the life and work of E.T.A. Hoffman, the writer who started it all with his Christmas fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” We’ll examine what inspired him to write the story, and how he tapped into fragments of existing folklore, the spirit of German Romanticism, and a sense of the uncanny to create the tale’s sugar plum fairies and clockwork castles.

The tale begins on Christmas eve with an extravagant spread of gifts, including a nutcracker. A young girl named Marie, enchanted with the doll, begins an adventure where toys come to life, an evil Mouse King must be defeated, and good and love triumph. Christmas is a time for magic and wonder, and the story that became known simply as “The Nutcracker” joined other holiday stories that have endured in capturing a sense of imagination and whimsy. Like many of the season’s other beloved tales, it also bore a hint of danger.

Sara and Brittany will explore the history of nutcrackers and the fascination—and, sometimes, fear—that dolls inspire. They’ll show you how “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” ties into Hoffman’s other works, and they’ll lead you through some of the adaptations of the story, from theater to film to fashion. In a season when “The Nutcracker” is performed everywhere, their talk will help you derive much more enjoyment from the show.

Click here to grab your tickets!

The December Patreon Fairy-Tale Salon
2021-12-12 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Salon #9! Let’s do this!
Date: December 12th at 7PM ET!
Prompt: Holiday Traditions and Rituals!
Quest: December is full of major holidays but also has room for “little traditions” that are unique to you/ your family/ your friend-group. There are so many ways to celebrate the season, from religious ceremonies to clicking champagne glasses to making that one dish your family HAS to make to reading a book on Christmas Eve. For this month’s salon, we’d love to hear about one wintery tradition or ritual that’s important to you, no matter how big and official or informal and personal. (Sara will be telling you about her (Jewish) family’s tradition of CHRISTMAS CREPES.)
If you’d like to participate, just make sure that you’re on the Salonnières tier or higher for the month of December!
See you on the 12th!

The November Book Club - Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
2021-11-29 19:00 - 20:00 | Crowdcast
Our Patreon book club is reading Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire this month! Our meeting will be November 29th, 2021 at 7PM EDT. Check Patreon for the link to join us if you’ve pledged at a $7+ tier!

The November Patreon Digital Fairy-Tale Salon
2021-11-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
November Salon: Fairy-Tale Food!
Hi all, here is the info for our November salon!
Date: November 18th at 7PM ET
Prompt: The holiday season approaches, so of course we’re thinking about food. So the topic this month is fairy-tale food, or fairy food. Please interpret this broadly! Is there a recipe you make, seasonally or whenever the mood strikes, that feels magical to you? Is there a fairy tale that features magic food in a way that interests or confuses or entrances you? Do you want to talk about the dangers and compulsions of fairy food?
Quest: Bring a story or a recipe or a question (plus maybe a magical snack or drink of your choice) and let’s celebrate!
If you’d like to participate, just make sure that you’re on the Salonnières tier or higher for the month of November! See you on the 18th! :).

The October Book Club - Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda
2021-10-28 19:00 - 20:00 | Crowdcast
Our Patreon book club is reading Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda translated by Polly Barton this month! Our meeting will be October 28th, 2021 at 7PM EDT. Check Patreon for the link to join us if you’ve pledged at a $7+ tier!

The October Patreon Fairy-Tale Salon
2021-10-20 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Hi all! Here is the info for Salon #7
Date: October 20th at 7PM EDT!
Prompt: What’s your scariest fairy-tale memory?
Quest: For this most haunted of months, we’re asking everyone to share their scariest fairy-tale-related memory. This challenge is hugely open to interpretation! For example, Brittany plans to talk about one of the most horrifying moments of her young childhood – going on the Snow White ride at Disneyworld! What fairy tale scares you the most and why? Why do you think fairy tales can produce such profound fear? Do you like your fairy tales on the creepy side?
If you’d like to participate, just make sure that you’re on the Salonnières tier or higher for the month of October! See you on the 20th :).

Profs & Pints Online: The Haunted House Lecture
2021-10-14 19:00 - 20:30 | Crowdcast
Profs and Pints Online presents: “The Haunted House,” with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.
[This talk will remain available in recorded form at the link given here for tickets and access.]
The haunted house has long held a place in the imaginations of those who enjoy a bit of uncanny terror, posing the ultimate threat to security and normalcy. It’s a place where something familiar becomes strange and unsettling, even threatening. You initially might have thought you’re safe—after all, you should be safe indoors—but you’re not. Sanctuary and shelter have turned against you. The very walls trouble your dreams.
Come tour some of the most terrifying real estate ever imagined with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, who have earned themselves a large and devoted following among Profs and Pints audiences. In this online talk they’ll show you the fascinating folkloric, literary, and real-world history of the haunted house, and might even leave you wondering about the creepy old places with doors you’re afraid to knock on come Halloween.
They’ll begin by discussing the scary structures of fairy tales, such as gingerbread houses and Bluebeard’s castle, exploring how the early stories told about them influenced the terrifying tales of Henry James’ Bly Manor and Edgar Allen Poe’s House of Usher.
They’ll consider the impact of haunted space on the Gothic and horror genres and explain why haunted houses are often so opulent and so decadent in their decay. And they’ll conclude by examining how these tales still resonate today, in haunted houses both purportedly real and those decidedly fake, meant for shocks and thrills. Even Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride will make an appearance. It’s a scary world after all.
What might the haunted house have to say about history, culture, and society? What draws us, again and again, to haunted houses, making us want to visit them, find their ghosts, and uncover their stories? Knock on the door, and let’s find out.

The Story of the Grimms' Fairy Tales - Smithsonian Associates Lecture
2021-09-29 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
In 1812 in Germany, brothers and literary scholars Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published a collection of 86 folktales, Kinder und Hausmärchen, known in English as Grimms Fairy Tales. A major source of the brothers’ inspiration was the Romantic nationalism sweeping over a still-unified Germany. They believed a country’s folk tales were a valuable reflection of its culture—and could therefore be helpful in nation building.
Folklorists Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman share the surprising history of the Grimms’ collection, from its connection to the early field of folkloristics—and that it might not be quite as “authentic” as the brothers wanted people to believe—to its literary impact on authors such as Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Neil Gaiman, to its use in propaganda in support of dangerous political ideologies.
Their insights into how these tales—too often dismissed as simple children’s stories—have profoundly shaped Western culture will stay with you ever after.
Cleto and Warman are former instructors of folklore and literature at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.

The September Patreon Fairy-Tale Salon
2021-09-27 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
September Salon:
Hi all, here is the info for Salon #6!
Date: September 27th at 7PM EDT!
Prompt: Find a fairy tale that is new to you!
Quest: For this month, we’re asking everyone to look through their fairy-tale books/the Internet and find a tale that they’ve never heard before or don’t remember well. What’s it about? Why do you think this tale has escaped your notice until now? What drew you to read it? What do you like or dislike about it?
If you’d like to participate, just make sure that you’re on the Salonnières tier or higher for the month of September! See you on the 27th :).

The September Book Club - Beowulf translated by Maria Dahvana Headley
2021-09-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Crowdcast
Our Patreon book club is reading Beowulf translated by Maria Dahvana Headley this month! Our meeting will be September 23rd, 2021 at 7PM EDT. Check Patreon for the link to join us if you’ve pledged at a $7+ tier!

The August Patreon Fairy-Tale Salon
2021-08-26 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
August Salon: Fairy-Tale Poetry
Hi all, here is the info for Salon #5!
Date: August 26th at 7PM EDT!
Prompt: After running Carmina this month, we’re still awash in our love of fairy-tale poetry…and we want to hear about your favorite piece!
Quest: What’s your very, very favorite fairy-tale poem? What sets your heart alight when you read it? What encompasses the magic of what fairy tales mean to you? Please select one (or two!) favorite fairy-tale poems and bring them to the salon to read to us! And think about why you love it so much and how it speaks to you.Maybe it’s a poem by Theodora Goss or Catherynne Valente or Neil Gaiman…or maybe it’s one that you wrote yourself or that you heard from another Carterhaugh student at Carmina :).
If you don’t have a favorite piece already, check out the archives at Liminality Magazine (http://www.liminalitypoetry.com/), Enchanted Conversation (https://www.fairytalemagazine.com/) or Uncanny Magazine (https://uncannymagazine.com/type/poetry/) for inspiration!
If you’d like to participate, just make sure that you’re on the Salonnières tier or higher for the month of August! See you on the 26th :).

Library of Congress - Traditional Folklore in a Digital World Symposium: Folklore & Social Media
2021-08-24 10:30 - 11:30 | Zoom
“The Social Media panel will take place on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, 10:30 am Eastern Time. It will last about two hours and include a short break. The Social Media world is represented by Dee Dee Chainey, a creator of the twitter hashtag event #FolkloreThursday, which went on to become an online magazine, and which led Chainey to author a series of influential folklore books; Andy Paciorek, an artist and writer who created the Folk Horror Revival Facebook community and Wyrd Harvest Press; and Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, creators of the award-winning Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, which also maintains blogs, a Facebook page, and an online community.”
FREE but registration required!
More information here!

The August Book Club - Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue
2021-08-09 19:00 - 20:00 | Crowdcast
Our Patreon book club is reading Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue this month! Our meeting will be August 9th, 2021 at 7PM EDT. Check Patreon for the link to join us if you’ve pledged at a $7+ tier!

The Charles County Public Library After Hours Program: Beyond the Mirror - Feminist Fairy Tales
2021-08-06 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
We will be presenting our “Beyond the Mirror – Feminist Fairy Tales” lecture for the Charles County Library After Hours Program!
FREE!

Carmina: The 2021 Carterhaugh Folklore & Writing Workshop
2021-07-31 | Crowdcast
More details coming SOON!

The August Patreon Digital Fairy-Tale Salon
2021-07-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
July Salon: Fantasy Fairy-Tale Films!
Hi all, here is the info for Salon #4!
Date: July 28th at 7PM EDT!
Prompt: This month’s prompt is a suggestion from Salonnière Heidi Lively! She says, “You are making a film of the fairy tale of your choice. Which actors would you choose? Locations? Costumes?”
Quest: Imagine your dream film…and tell us why it matters! What tale would you choose, and why would it be especially wonderful translated as a film? What would the medium of film enhance or allow you to do with this story? Get ready to paint a picture of what you’d love to see in your wildest cinematic dreams!
If you’d like to participate, just make sure that you’re on the Salonnières tier or higher for the month of July! See you on the 28th! :).

The July Book Club - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
2021-07-15 19:00 - 20:00 | Crowdcast
Our Patreon book club is reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente this month! Our meeting will be July 15th, 2021 at 7PM EDT. Check Patreon for the link to join us if you’ve pledged at a $7+ tier!
A few blurbs to entice you!:
“A glorious balancing act between modernism and the Victorian Fairy Tale, done with heart and wisdom.” ―Neil Gaiman, Newbery Award–winning author of The Graveyard Book
“September is a clever, fun, stronghearted addition to the ranks of bold, adventurous girls. Valente’s subversive storytelling is sheer magic.” ―Tamora Pierce, author of The Immortals series
“A mad, toothsome romp of a fairy tale–full of oddments, whimsy, and joy.” ―Holly Black, author of the Spiderwick Chronicles
“When I saw that this book reminds me simultaneously of E. Nesbit, James Thurber, and the late Eva Ibbotson, I don’t mean to take anything away from its astonishing originality. It’s a charmer from the first page, managing the remarkable parlay of being at once ridiculously funny and surprisingly suspenseful. Catherynne Valente is a find, at any age!” ―Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn

The June Patreon Digital Fairy-Tale Salon
2021-06-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
June Salon: Shadow Tales
Hi all, here is the info for Salon #3!
Date: June 30th at 7PM EDT!
Prompt: For our first two salons, we asked you to think about favorite fairy tales or fairy-tale memories that you absolutely love… for Salon #3, we’re going to ask you to do the opposite. What is your least favorite fairy tale? What about it just grinds your gears? Is your hatred influenced by Disney or another adaptation? Why do you think other people like the tale?
Quest: Explore your least favorite fairy tale. Re-read the story, look at illustrations, journal on your loathing. Consider the fact that this tale may be your “shadow tale” – think about what we might mean by that, and we’ll explore the concept further at the event!
If you’d like to participate, just make sure that you’re on the Salonnières tier or higher for the month of June! See you on the 30th! :).

POSTPONED: The Boonton Holmes Public Library: Folkloric Felines
2021-06-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
POSTPONED to the Fall/Winter – more details coming soon, we apologize for any inconvenience!
***Please register online at:
https://tinyurl.com/felinefolklore
or by phone at 973-334-2980.***
A fascinating look at cats in folklore and fairy tales!
Via Zoom. For adults & teens. Free & open to the public, however, registration is required. More program info available at the registration link above.

The June Book Club - Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
2021-06-16 19:00 - 20:00 | Crowdcast
Our Patreon book club is reading Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir this month! Our meeting will be June 16th, 2021 at 7PM EDT. Check Patreon for the link to join us if you’ve pledged at a $7+ tier!

The 2021 Magickal Women Conference
2021-06-05 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
We will be presenting our “Witches in the Grimms’ Fairy Tales” Lecture at 12:10PM EDT on Saturday 6/5!
This presentation will explore the powerful, endlessly versatile figure of the witch through the folkloric medium of the fairy tale. Focusing on the collection of the Brothers’ Grimm, we will begin with an overview of the brothers and their academic project, discussing how their nationalistic scholarship evolved into a book of fairy tales targeted towards children. Then we will turn to the witches within the collection, discussing their unique relationships to agency, community, and nature. The remainder of the presentation will focus on five different witches that appear in five different fairy tales, some familiar and some obscure: “Rapunzel,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “The Three Spinners,” “Frau Trude,” and “All Kinds of Fur.” For each fairy tale, we will provide a brief summary of the plot before identifying the “aspect” of the witch that is most relevant to the tale, beginning with “Witch as Mother” in “Rapunzel.” In the subsequent fairy tales, we will discuss “Witch as Monster,” “Witch as Helper,” “Witch as Lover,” and “Witch as Princess.” By illuminating different aspects of the figure of the witch as she appears in the Grimms’ tales, we will demonstrate the versatility, multiplicity, and power that characterizes her, even within a single, albeit extremely influential, collection of stories. These witches represent the many ways of being a woman in the world and the many ways women can relate to others – a rich repository of education and inspiration, they intrigue and enchant us, inviting us to let down our hair, jump into their flames, and take a bite of their apple.
ONLINE
Ticket prices vary per day.
£100 for the whole weekend of events.
Click here for more information and to register!

The Charles County Public Library After Hours Program: Folkloric Felines
2021-06-04 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
We will be presenting our talk on Folkloric Felines for the Charles County Public Library After Hours program!
FREE!

The May Patreon Digital Fairy-Tale Salon
2021-05-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
Our May Patreon Digital Fairy-Tale Salon will be held on May 30th at 7PM. Our theme is “Fairy-Tale Memories” – check the patron-only post here for more details (and the quest!)

The May Book Club - Snow White Learns Witchcraft by Theodora Goss
2021-05-13 19:00 | Crowdcast
Our Patreon book club is reading Snow White Learns Witchcraft by Theodora Goss this month! Our meeting will be May 13th, 2021 at 7PM EDT. Check Patreon for the link to join us if you’ve pledged at a $7+ tier!

The April Patreon Digital Fairy-Tale Salon
2021-04-27 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
Our first digital Fairy-Tale Salon is happening on April 27th at 7PM EDT!
We’d love for you to join us. If you want to give it a try, make sure you’re signed up for our Salonnières tier or higher – you can always adjust your tier from month to month, depending on your schedule or interest in the salon topic!
Prompt: What is the fairy tale (or legend or folk tale) that best describes your own life? What tale resonates all the way down to your bones? What story do you turn to (or will you turn to) to make sense of the events that befall you and the choices that you make? Has your selection changed over the past year?
Quest: For our first salon, please bring an object that represents this story, your story, to you. It can be anything – a tea cup, a concert ticket stub, a piece of jewelry, a favorite pen – as long as it contains some part of that tale. We’d love to hear about both – your tale and the object that has become its talisman to you.
Bonus Quest: Choose an outfit that reflects that fairy tale! Anything from a themed t-shirt to an actual crown or anything in between.
If you have any questions, please email us at carterhaughschool@gmail.com! We can’t wait!
