Announcing an enchanting new, illustrated book of fairy tales: “South of the Sun: Australian fairy tales for the 21st century”, is an intercultural anthology developed in partnership with Serenity Press & the Australian Fairy Tale Society [AFTS].

And you can get this book now at Serenity Press: South of the Sun | Serenity Press (Readership: Young Adult & Adult)

The editors set out to challenge the assumption that fairy tales are European, for children, and must contain fairies and pale, passive heroines. All the stories, lyrics and poems have something in common, a contemporary edge. Even those set in earlier times have a modern sensibility that reflects the 21st century.

There are stories from emerging talent and leading award-winning Australian writers such as, Carmel Bird, Sophie Masson, Cate Kennedy and Eugen Bacon; and contain artwork by foremost illustrators Lorena Carrington & Kathleen Jennings.

Co-editor Louisa John-Krol says: ‘There’s a real need today for fairy tales, for example, their link to ecology. It’s harder to fell an ancient tree if you can imagine a dryad living in it. We’ve often lost our connection to nature - like identifying birds; knowing the seasons for planting and harvesting; water divination, etc. Well, they’re all there in fairy tales and songs [which] hold the uncanny knack of slipping wisdom through the back door of the psyche, where we least expect it. They carry history’s DNA, packed into seeds.’ ‘Fairy tales are not about escapism. Quite the opposite. They lead us deeper into life. We become re-enchanted, fall in love with the world. And we could all do with a little magic in our 21st century lives, couldn’t we?’

But what makes a story an Australian fairy tale? First and foremost, it is quite distinct from Indigenous storytelling, and the editors were careful not to appropriate sacred Dreaming. However the stories had to have an Australian setting and contain some kind of magical or supernatural element. Today Australia has a diverse population from many different cultures and the South of the Sun anthology also reflects this as the authors have backgrounds from Africa, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Britain, Europe, Indonesia, China, Iran, Papua New Guinea and Indigenous Australians.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT: Patsy Poppenbeek 0409 026 009

Email beacon01@optus.net.com.au

WEBSITE LINKS

Anthology: https://australianfairytales.com/

AFTS: https://australianfairytalesociety.wordpress.com/about-2-2/

Website, Serenity Press: https://www.serenitypress.org/

NEW BOOK - July 2021 FAIRY TALES FOR GROWN-UPS!