Fairy Tales of All Sorts on the Birthday of Hans Christian Andersen

Today is the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen.  What better reason to gather some fairy-tale themed fragments into a whole blog post?

--I've ordered Jeannine Hall Gailey's new book!  She's one of my favorite poets who uses fairy tales in interesting new ways.  I can hardly wait to read the new work.

--If you want to order your own copy, go to this post of hers to see the variety of ways you can do it.

--The story of Jeannine's book has some fairy tale aspects, with its first acceptance coming from a publisher who had health issues and had to shut down her press--but Jeannine found the book a new home in what seemed like a quick time to me. A new twist on Sleeping Beauty?  Cinderella?

--Are you feeling like the publishing world is one big collection of fairy tales?  This collection of short pieces by The Washington Post provides fascinating insights from a variety of angles, like the academic librarian and the writing workshop leader.

  --On May 25, I'll be part of an event at Into the Woods Gallery in Dania, FL (138 N. Federal Highway). There will be poetry and paintings and all sorts of responses to the theme of the show, Twisted Fairy Tales.

--Vaughn Reynold is the owner of the gallery. His story has some fairy tale aspects too, not the least of which is the name of the gallery. He's recently graduated and had artistic successes, meaning at this time, he's making a living by way of his art. To some of us, that might suggest enchantment; others of us know it means he's been dedicated.

--I'm keeping a wary eye on North Korea, but I'm not sure what fairy tale I'm seeing.  I've been watching reruns of the old TV show M*A*S*H, which you may or may not remember was set during the time of the Korean War, and it's surreal to wake up in the morning and hear war drums from that peninsula again.

--Do North Koreans feel like they're trapped in a TV show?  Or do they feel like the Little Match Girl, seeing beautiful scenes which they can't be part of?

--Hans Christian Andersen came from a poor background, although not quite as desperate as North Korea.  He tried and failed at careers in a variety of arts before he turned to writing:  opera, stage, and ballet.  He wrote 175 fairy tales.

--I like his fairy tales best of all, I think.  I like the human quality to them, the yearning for a life that's different.  I like the lack of fairy tale endings, even as I yearn for fairy tale endings for us all.