Here’s a list of all the events and publications that we can link you to in the coming weeks.

Events

June 4 at 6:45PM ET
Smithsonian Associates: “Jack: Tales of the Ultimate Underdog”

You already know Jack, the boy who grew a beanstalk to the clouds and stole a giant’s riches, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Jack Tales are a massive category of stories, spanning the U.K. and the U.S., about a poor boy who triumphs again and again despite overwhelming odds. In addition to besting giants, Jack also defeats dragons, tricks his brothers, and marries the most beautiful girl in town. He’s the ultimate underdog whose cleverness and luck keep him one step ahead of everyone else.

The particular popularity of Jack Tales in Appalachia emphasizes the fact that—although often stereotypically perceived as poor, isolated, and uneducated—the people of Appalachia are typically clever, resourceful underdogs themselves who are willing to fight for their success and each other. Traditional storytellers from the area, particularly the Hicks-Harmon family, emphasize these traits in their tales, using Jack as a way of rejecting misconceptions about themselves and their neighbors.

Folklorists Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman do a deep dive into Jack Tales. They examine key differences between these stories as they’re told in the U.S. vs. the U.K.; explain why Jack resonates as a hero; and reveal why his tales have endured when so many other fairy tales have faded in the U.S. The lecture also includes prompts for audience interaction.

Click here to get your tickets!

June 18 at 7:00 PM ET

Fairy Tale Salon – Here is the info for our June Fairy-Tale Salon.

Prompt: Book Recommendations

Quest: Last June, we asked our salonnières to talk about their favorite book of the year so far… and we’re doing it again to celebrate the summer solstice this year! What book has just delighted you recently? What book has really made you think? What book do you just want more people to know about? Bring it to the salon this month – we can’t wait to learn 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 June!

June 25 at 7:00 PM ET

Book Club – We are SO EXCITED that our June book club will feature Weep, Woman, Weep by our friend and colleague Dr. Maria DeBlassie AND that Maria will be joining us for our discussion on June 25th at 7PM ET!

(You might remember Dr. DeBlassie from the absolutely phenomenal bonus she did for our Enchant course, “Conversing with the Tarot to Conjure Main Character Magic”!)

Here’s the description:

“The women of Sueño, New Mexico don’t know how to live a life without sorrows. That’s La Llorona’s doing. She roams the waterways looking for the next generation of girls to baptize, filling them with more tears than any woman should have to hold. And there’s not much they can do about the Weeping Woman except to avoid walking along the riverbank at night and to try to keep their sadness in check. That’s what attracts her to them: the pain and heartache that gets passed down from one generation of women to the next.

Mercy knows this, probably better than anyone. She lost her best friend to La Llorona and almost found a watery grave herself. But she survived. Only she didn’t come back quite right and she knows La Llorona won’t be satisfied until she drags the one soul that got away back to the bottom of the river.

In a battle for her life, Mercy fights to break the chains of generational trauma and reclaim her soul free from ancestral hauntings by turning to the only things that she knows can save her: plant medicine, pulp books, and the promise of a love so strong not even La Llorona can stop it from happening. What unfolds is a stunning tale of one woman’s journey into magic, healing, and rebirth.”

Please note that this book does come with content warnings for assault, domestic violence, racism, and colorism. 

Here are couple of the excellent reviews this book has received:

“This may be one of the more compelling, beautiful books that I’ve read this year…An unexpected joy.” ~ Melissa on Goodreads

“If you’re a fan of magical-contemporary novels like Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, The Wood Wife by Terri Windling, or the novellas and stories by Francesca Lia Block, then you’ll be delighted by Maria DeBlassie’s Weep, Woman, Weep.” ~ Hayley on Goodreads

Sounds right up our alley, no? And hey, the book’s subtitle is “A Gothic Fairytale about Ancestral Hauntings,” so you KNOW it’s perfect for Carterhaugh!

Book club sessions where the author joins us are always really special – if you would like to join us, make sure you’re on the $7+ tier on our Patreon for the month of June!

Current Courses Available

Find Your Fairy Tale Mini-Course ($17) – Find Your Fairy Tale is a bite-sized mini course made to help you connect genuinely with the world of fairy tales and tap into the personal stories that underpin your life – so that you can harness their power or even start to change them. We guarantee academic excellence, dedication to whimsy, and an avenue right into a real sense of everyday enchantment. 

Some people swear by their Enneagram (we’re both 3s) or their Zodiac sign (*waves in Virgo and Scorpio*). We’re all about fairy tales and the insights they reveal.

Click here to grab it!

Publications

Sara has a new poem, “The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die” in Fairy Tale Review’s Arsenic Issue! You can read more here.

We have a new poem in the Sleeping Beauty issue of Fairy Tale Magazine. You can read our poem “Gifts for Girls” online for free!

We have two poems in Issue #4 of Clarion Poetry Magazine, “A Dress of Paper” and “Snow White and Rose Red II.”