Gay fairytale
The classic fairy tale of a prince or princess meeting a peasant teen or girl and falling in love has been given a makeover in a new book for children.
It begins: "Once upon a time, in a land not far away, a place where no one cared if you were straight or you were gay."
Promised Land is written and published by Adam Reynolds and Chaz Harris of Wellington.
They both work in the movie industry and the pair wrote the book based on Reynold’s idea for a story that embraces the idea that two boys could fall in love and overcome adversity that is not associated to their sexuality - with an adventure along the way.
The say the story had to remain on its own and the fact that the characters are gay is incidental.
“I think we were aware of the fairy tale tropes, we grasp what's there normally and choosing in certain areas to subvert those tropes - so often there’s the damsel in distress so, well, let’s slay that right now!”
The story is about a farm boy and a prince who meet in a forest one day and their friendship soon blossoms into love.
The prince’s mum, the queen, meets a siniste
Fairy Tale: A Male lover Adventure
When he was a child, Jerry Richard Williams’ mother spent hours reading illustrated fairy tales to him and his twin sister. While his mother didn’t believe in fairy tales, she did believe in miracles from Jesus. She also enjoyed stories about Prince Charming and falling in love. So did her small boy. In Fairy Tale, Williams shares his life story, a kind of fairy tale about a career in the theater as a set and costume designer while looking for Prince Charming.
He narrates what it was appreciate growing up male lover in the heart of America’s conservative Bible belt of the s. A charming, nostalgic reflection on surviving, Williams chronicles life events in his azure collar, post-war, life. At every spin, he encounters a host of fairy godmothers and engages with legendary stars such as Merv Griffin, Myrna Loy, Esther Williams, and others.
This memoir tells the magical tale of Williams’ upbringing, schooling, career, looking for desire, and overcoming challenges to manage a life well lived.
Last week, we gave a communicate for the Smithsonian Associates on Queer Fairy Tales for Pride! YAY!
As part of that speak, we put together a list of some of our favorite queer fairy tales and fairy-tale retellings, and we realized that somehow we’ve never done a list of them for Carterhaugh!?
So, for the last week of Pride Month, we wanted to share our list… and, of course, add to it, because we cannot help ourselves. In addition to fairy tales, we added some of our favorite queer fantasy novels and stories, too.
If this list is initially overwhelming, we were asked a really great question at the end of the Smithsonian speak that we’d like to share.
We were asked, what would we recommend reading first to a teenager who was having a hard time right now? What would they find comforting?
While it’s impossible to know for sure, we gave it our optimal stab. We said: for comfort that’s like being wrapped up in a cozy blanket, we’d recommend Kissing the Witch: Antique Tales in New Skins by Emma Donoghue, which is lovely, lyrical, and easy to pluck up and put down. (It’s also considered a fou
Archer Magazine
Once upon a time, there wasn’t a unpartnered queer person in the world, so there was no need to discuss about them in stories…
Wait, what?
Image: Walter Crane illustration of Faithful Heinrich (right) and his prince
For as long as humans contain had voices, folk and fairy tales have been spoken aloud around the fire. Stories to create sense of the nature, to teach us which animalistic men to dodge, or how to be a pure, virtuous beauty in order to prevail a marriage (which, as we all know, is the only way to measure your worth).
These tales came alive anew in each storyteller’s mouth. But someone decided to note them down with ink on a page, and while society continued to change and evolve, the stories dried, dark as a stain.
However, our fascination with them has remained.
Turn a few hundred pages forward in the history books, and we identify ourselves in a period where queers are more able to make themselves known (though certainly not universally); and we’re still picking up The Brothers Grimm. People telling stories now read from printed texts, rather than reciting th