South of the Sun: Australian fairy tales for the 21st century 

South of the Sun is an illustrated anthology of Australian Fairy Tales, produced by the Australian Fairy Tale Society in partnership with Serenity Press.

Make sure you scroll down to see our full list of rewards!

What is an Australian Fairy Tale? This is a question South of the Sun explores. We are challenging assumptions that fairy tales are for children, are European, and must contain fairies and pale, passive heroines. Through stories, flash fiction, poetry and illustrations we are producing inventive, intercultural new Australian fairy tales for young adults and older fantasy readers. 

The Australian Fairy Tale Society is a group of passionate, talented writers, illustrators, storytellers and scholars interested in fairy tales. The sub-committee producing this anthology consists of former BBC producer, writer Gabi Brown; multi-published illustrator Lorena Carrington; author and scholar Dr Rebecca-Anne Do Rozario; Cassandra author Kathryn Gossow; writer and indie musician Louisa John-Krol; and fearless leader and writer, Patsy Poppenbeek.

We already have stories from amazing writers, including:

• Sophie Masson, the French, Jakarta-born fantasy writer, recently awarded an Order of Australia for services to literature;
• Carmel Bird, recipient of the Patrick White Literary Award;
• Eugen Bacon, award-winning African-Australian writer;
• Cate Kennedy, award-winning novelist and short story writer.

We are also soliciting work from new and emerging writers and illustrators, with submissions from writers closing on 13 December and from illustrators early next year. We plan to pay all contributors. If you are interested in participating, please see further details on the anthology website:

https://australianfairytales.com/

This is our marvellous cover, designed by Lorena Carrington. 

We also have an erudite foreword written by Dr Rebecca-Anne Do Rozario and a comprehensive bibliography of early Australian fairy tales collated by Ring Maiden Jo Henwood.

Producing a quality anthology with beautiful illustrations is expensive and we are grateful for a financial contribution from the Australian Fairy Tale Society and the support of Serenity Press, an Australian independent specialist publisher of the literary folklore/fairy tale genre. Serenity is providing us with proofreading, formatting, printing and shipping management, eBook creation, and distribution services.

Our aim is an anthology of 84,000 words and ten original illustrations. 

We plan to launch in September 2020, in time for the Christmas market.

Testimonials:

‘Our storytelling community endorses Australian Fairy Tale Society’s Anthology, South of the Sun: Australian fairy tales for the 21st century, in recognition that fairy tales are a valuable branch of folklore. We share an interest in repertoire development, cultural diversity, social inclusion, creativity and respect for heritage, with sensitivity and curiosity. We look forward to reading—and potentially performing!—these stories.’

Jackie Kerin, award-winning storyteller & award-winning author, a long-time president of Storytelling Australia Victoria

‘You are marvellous, magical custodians of folklore and bringers of Faerie. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with you. Thanks for all you’ve done for fairy tales in Oz.’

Erin Hallowell-Gartlan, Anthology copy-editor & formerly sub-editor of Australian Fairy Tale Society’s Ezine

‘Talking with the [then] president of the Australian Fairy Tale Society, Louisa John-Krol, we learnt more about how fairy tales benefit the social development of young people and why these events are so important for the community.’

Megan Harvey, The Royal Botanic Garden of Sydney, from an interview at the AFTS 2018 conference at The Royal Botanic Garden of Sydney, NSW

If you have any further questions, please email us on:

[email protected]

Our first campaign target will cover 

• The remainder of the cost of printing (AFTS has contributed $3000 already)
• Copy-editing
• Book cover, interior design & licence fees
• Payment to writers for 50,000 words
• Payment to illustrators

If successful we will stretch our target

• Payment to writers for a further 34,000 words
• Payment for more illustrations
• Printing more copies
• Other miscellaneous costs such as marketing