The Folklore Podcast

In an episode of The Folklore Podcast Book Club which is a continuation of our discussion with Prof. Jack Zipes on the main podcast, guest reviewer Hilary Wilson talks with artist Natalie Frank about her collaboration visualising the fairy tales in the book 'The Island of Happiness' from Princeton University Press.

The Folklore Podcast Book Club is part of The Folklore Network, collecting, conserving and preserving folklore for the future. You can support our work on Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/thefolklorepodcast or by making a donation on the website at http://www.thefolklorepodcast.com

Music: 'November' by Kai Engel. CC BY 4.0. Click here to see Kai's catalogue.

When we think of tellers and recorders of fairy tales, our mind naturally turns to Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault or, of course, the Grimm Brothers. And yet, the 17th century French writer who actually coined the term ‘conte de fee’, or fairytale, when she published her major collection of them in 1697 goes largely unremembered - sidelined perhaps because of her gender at a time when such prominence amongst women was sadly much more rare.

That writer, who compiled the original collection in the French language, was Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, known more colloquially as Madame d’Aulnoy. Her work is not often found in English-language volumes, but is rather sidelined to one or two translated stories being put into anthologies alongside other writers.

But in April of this year, Princetown University Press released a new English collection of Madame d’Aulnoy’s tales, beautifully visualised by Natalie Frank and translated by the eminent Professor Jack Zipes. The book, called The Island of Happiness features a new translation of The Tale of Mira, one of d’Aulnoy’s earlier stories in which the beautiful protagonist kills any man who falls in love with her, before herself falling for a man who is indifferent to her.

In this episode of The Folklore Podcast, guest interviewer Hilary Wilson speaks to the eminent Professor Jack Zipes, translator of D'Aulnoy's works and expert on the literary fairy tale. on the life of Madame D'Aulnoy.

To support all of the Folklore Podcast Network's projects and help to enable us to continue providing free access to the world's experts in folklore and their materials, please visit our Patreon page or made a small donation via our website.

Guest interviewer Becky Jones meets Dr Martin Shaw, mythologist and storyteller and the author of the book 'Smoke Hole', published by Chelsea Green Publishing. 'Smoke Hole' uses traditional folk tales as a metaphor on modern life.

Martin is director of the Westcountry School of Myth and the interview looks at his work as a wilderness guide, the ways in which his writing provides commentary on the modern through mythology and much more.

Click here to find out more about the Westcountry School of Myth

Click here to watch the video version of this interview on our YouTube channel

The Folklore Podcast Book Club is part of the Folklore Library and Archive. To support our work in preserving and making folklore resources available for future generations, please click here.

We celebrate the 100th episode of The Folklore Podcast with special guest Mary-Ann Ochota who joins us to discuss the theme of folklore in the landscape. We cover archaeology, anthropology, the importance of communal spaces and much more.

Please visit our website at www.thefolklorepodcast.com where you will find a variety of ways to support all of The Folklore Podcast's projects and we move into our next 100 shows.

Guest book reviewer Hilary Wilson speaks with Thomas Honegger, the author of the book 'Introducing the Medieval Dragon', published by University of Wales Press. The book explores the characteristics of the medieval dragon and discusses the sometimes differing views found in the relevant medieval text-types.

The book is available from the publisher here

To support The Folklore Podcast in producing free content with access to the world's experts in the fields of folklore as well as maintaining folklore for the future through the Folklore Library and Archive, please visit our Patreon page or make a one-off donation here.

Charlotte Sophia Burne was a pioneering British Folklorist who was not only the first female president of The Folklore Society, but also undoubtedly the first female president of any learned society in the country. She was instrumental in the production of the second edition of 'The Handbook of Folklore' and her work on folklore in the county of Shropshire is still well respected today.

Our guest Nicole Stout is a direct descendent of Charlotte and also the author of 'Unexpected Companions', a novel in which Charlotte features, using many words and events based on her life. Nicole discusses the life and career of Charlotte in this episode, which is part of our occasional series on great folklorists.

To visit Nicole's website and find her book, please click here.

The Folklore Library and Archive contains digitised copies of all the notebooks of Charlotte's which are known to still exist today. Click here to visit the website, where you will find them in the Document Archives.

To support the work of The Folklore Podcast and The Folklore Library and Archive, please visit our Patreon page.

On this episode of The Folklore Podcast Book Club we talk with author Lizzie Fry about her fiction title 'The Coven' published by Sphere Books. The book is a global thriller, set in a world where witchcraft is real and the US president decrees that all witches must be imprisoned for their own safety - creating a world in which being female is only one step away from being criminal.

To support the Folklore Podcast Network and help us to preserve and make available folklore resources for the future, please visit our Patreon page or make a small one-off donation on our website.

Guest reviewer for The Folklore Podcast Book Club, Hilary Wilson, interviews author David Castleton about his book 'Church Curiosities'.

To support us in creating free content across The Folklore Podcast network, please click here

David's book is available from the publisher at https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/church-...

David's blog can be found at https://www.davidcastleton.net/

Watch the video of this interview at https://youtu.be/tsGqrgDym-A

We travel back to the 11th century to examine the use of erotic magic and the church's response to this in the form of penitential literature, with a particular focus on the writings of the bishop of the Holy Roman Empire, Burchard of Worms. Guest Larissa Lyth speaks about the types of magic employed, how women were viewed by the church at this time and the types of penance given for magical use.

Please note this this episode discusses adult themes of a sexual nature and carries a content warning for abortion, and as such is not considered as suitable for children.

To support us in providing free folklore content across the Folklore Podcast network, please visit our Patreon page.

We are joined by author Joanne Harris, on her second visit to The Folklore Podcast network. Joanne discusses her latest book 'Honeycomb' - a collection of 100 stories set amongst the world of fairy lore which had a very unusual method of writing.

If you enjoy this episode please consider making a small donation to The Folklore Podcast on our website, or signing up to our Patreon page. Thank you