B is for Beyond

         (If you’re waiting for April to officially begin the April A to Z Blog Challenge, don’t mind me!  I’m just getting a head start.  You can read my Theme Reveal Post here, and when April comes I’ll direct you to the correct letter every day.)

        Let me introduce you properly to the book my A to Z this year is all about: Beyond Pomegranate & Thorns.  It’s a collection of short stories, poetry, and art inspired by, riffing on, and reimagining fairy tales, myths, legends, and folklore (and it will be released on April 20!)  In other words, I’ve started with those traditional stories and tried to go beyond them to new perspectives about their characters and tropes and the ways they try to bring meaning to living in this world of ours.

        Later in the alphabet you’ll find out more about how I went beyond the pomegranate of the title, so today I present Beyond the Thorns, a rubber block print that illustrates a poem about Sleeping Beauty.  “The Sleeping Beauty” is the fairy tale that got by far the most reaction from me in this collection.  I’ve included a short story, 2 independent poems, and a set of 13 connected poems, plus there’s another short story that also includes an element inspired by “The Sleeping Beauty.”  Why so much about this particular fairy tale?  Here’s what I say in the end notes: Do you have any favorite songs that you love even though the lyrics are ridiculous or problematic?  You love the music, the voice, the vibe, even though logically you can’t agree with the message?  There are fairy tales like that for me.  “Sleeping Beauty” has always been one of my favorites not for the plot, but for the strange and beautiful setting of the enchanted castle falling asleep behind its mysterious hedge of thorns.  The descriptions in the Grimms’ version are wonderfully evocative in their specificity.  I love the music of the tale.

        (If you need to read or reread this fairy tale for yourself to see what I mean, you can find it here.)  Yes, my book does include End Notes, to let you know for each of my pieces which traditional story inspired it, and to explain a little bit about my reactions and why I took my own re-imaginings in a particular direction.  But to keep those notes from being too dry I’ve included lots of additional art back there.  I want the book to be an object of beauty throughout!

        But back to “Sleeping Beauty.”  In addition to that strange and beautiful setting, this fairy tale has so many little sparks of wonder that lead my imagination off in interesting directions: What are the protocol and rules of magic that fairies have to follow when bestowing gifts on a royal infant?  And what gifts did they actually all bestow?  (More on that at F!)  What are the implications of missing a century of history and marrying into a world in which so much has changed?  What might someone actually be doing while asleep for a hundred years (to sleep, perchance to dream)?…  There are just so many enticing things to imagine!  So this is the place to note that when I’ve had multiple responses to a particular traditional tale, each of my pieces should be considered to be independent and unconnected with each other.  I may be responding to a completely different element of the story, and taking my imagination in a completely different direction in each piece.

        As for this illustration of the castle behind its enchanted hedge of thorns, you can read more about the making of it at this prior blog post.  You can also see that this rubber block print is the basis for the cover design of the book, although I adapted it to full color for maximum enticing-ness (I hope).

        The moral of Sleeping Beauty is that choosing your time wisely makes all the difference between dying a horrible death impaled on thorns or strolling through a rose garden.  (If you’ve just reread the story you’ll know that in the Grimms’ version the prince doesn’t do anything heroic to get through that hedge – he just shows up at the right time.)

        Also, it’s always important to look for whatever might be hidden behind a prickly exterior.  It could be treasure or a heart of gold, or it could be lies and deception.  Observe closely!

        Have you ever gotten beyond a concealing barrier to discover a secret magical place?

[Picture: Beyond the Thorns, rubber block print by AEGNydam, 2017 (Image from Beyond Pomegranate & Thorns).]