Women & Fairy Tales:
a talk by Terri Windling (writer & fairy tale scholar), with storytelling by Howard Gayton (co-founder of the Ophaboom Theatre Company).

Did you know that fairy tales were not originally intended for children? Or that fairy tales heroines have not always been passive creatures, waiting for princes to rescue them? Fairy tales used to be darker, stranger, and more sensual than they are today. Come learn about the fascinating history of the world's most familiar stories.

(Please note that we'll be discussing fairy tales as adult stories; this event is not recommended for young children.)

Terri Windling is a writer, editor, and artist specializing in fantasy literature and mythic arts. She has published over forty books (including novels, picture books, and anthologies for readers of all ages), as well as numerous articles on myth and folklore. Her work has been translated into ten languages, and has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and placed on the short-list for the Tiptree Award. She has been a consulting editor for Tor Books/St. Martin's Press in New York since 1986, and has worked with many of fantasy field's top writers (such as Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, Holly Black and Charles de Lint). She is also the co-director of The Endicott Studio, a nonprofit organization dedicated to contemporary mythic arts. For more information, visit Terri online at www.terriwindling.com and www.endicott-studio.com.

Howard Gayton has worked for many years as a theatre director, performer, and teacher specializing in Commedia dell'Arte and mask theatre. As the co-founder Ophaboom, England's leading Commedia company, he spent sixteen years touring extensively throughout the British Isles and continental Europe, performing in four languages. He has also created puppet shows for the Little Angel Theatre in London and the Norwich Puppet Theatre; he has performed in mask with Katy Marchant's Daughters of Elvin; and he has taught at drama schools including East 15 (London) and ESMAE (Porto, Portugal). As a writer and scholar, he is interested in all manner of tricksters, zanni figures, and sacred clowns, as well as in the use of masks in drama, myth, magic, and religious rituals around the world. More information on Howard and his work can be found at: http://endicottstudio.typepad.com/howardgayton/