Who doesn't love a good mermaid story? I have written a few myself. Especially asexual mermaid stories. So, the first thing that drew me in was the opening tale, "Storm Song" by Rebecca Coffindaffer, about an asexual siren. I felt seen!
As the book went on, I was given all sorts of perspectives on mer-folk tales. Trans. Gay. Lesbian. Vietmanese, Polish, Filippino, Latin American and South Asian perspectives. Mermaids who become human. Humans who become mermaids. Those who transition between the two. Stories set in fantasy worlds, and stories set in our familiar world - with a twist!
I especially liked the different ways the symbolism of mermaids was used to explore ssues of identity. For example, in "Return to the Sea" by Kalynn Bayron there is mermaid cultural appropriation. "She doesn't give a sh*t about our practices or sacred places. She wants to dress up like a mermaid and discard the costume when she's moved on to the next thing. I don't get to take the tail off. Ever." Or "Shark Week" by Maggie Tokuda-Hall in which a girls gets a shark's mouth and appetite during her time of the month, and is forced to hide her "monstrosity".
This gave me so much to think about, and a much deeper (no pun intended!) reading experience beside that of well-written and entertaining stories. Which these most certainly are.
14 Young Adult short stories from bestselling and award-winning authors make a splash in Mermaids Never Drown - the second collection in the Untold Legends series edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker - exploring mermaids like we've never seen them before!
A Vietnamese mermaid caught between two worlds. A siren who falls for Poseidon's son. A boy secretly pining for the merboy who saved him years ago. A storm that brings humans and mermaids together. Generations of family secrets and pain.
Find all these stories and more in this gripping new collection that will reel you in from…
I knew I wanted to face the parasite of white supremacy that has wormed its way into our collective consciousness over the centuries, but I also knew it would be tough. I'd hit serious emotional challenges, trying to deal with it myself, and I knew the book would reawaken painful feelings.
Mercifully, Layla Saad makes provision for that. She tells you that it will be hard, that your ego will fight against it. And she encourages you to talk through the challenges with a trusted person. This, I did. (As a person of faith, I will also add that said prayers before and after each chapter to strengthen my resolve).
For the first two nights, I couln't sleep. But the more I persevered with it, the easier it got. I didn't skip any part, even the bits I wasn't sure applied to me. It helped me understand how my upbringing has shaped my subconcious. And helped me grasp concepts I had previoiusly struggled with, such as white fragility and cultural appropriation.
I have now seen things I cannot unsee. Since the book, I can see how my persepctive has changed, and it's changed the way I act and speak as well. I think if every white person read it, the world would be a better place.
'An indispensable resource for white people who want to challenge white supremacy but don't know where to begin' Robin DiAngelo, author of WHITE FRAGILITY
'It should be mandatory reading ... Buy the book, do the work and then push more copies into the hands of everyone you know' Emma Gannon
'Confrontational and much-needed' Stylist
'She is no-joke changing the world and, for what it's worth, the way I live my life.' Anne Hathaway
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Me and White Supremacy shows readers how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of colour,…
I love, love, LOVE Susanna Clarke! She is a true kindred spirit. I had already listened to the audio version of this story when it was commissioned by BBC Radio 4 in 2022. But the beautiful hardback copy with illustrations by Victoria Sawdon is a true gift.
It's hard to put into words the magic and spirituality of this story. As an amateur folklorist and member of a Celtic Christian community, it perfectly encapsulates my personal experience of Christmas as a magical AND holy time. Of the futility of making a distinction between Christian and pagan "origins" of the season and its customs. Merowdis is so like the early Celtic saints in her relationship with animals and the woods. (So much so that I had to check she was not a real saint!)
Susanna's afterword lends another dimension to what is already an extremely rich short story. The idea that Merowdis (and by extension, some of the Celtic saints) could be neurodivergent resonates strongly with my experience as a member of the Community of Aidan & Hilda, which has a high number of neurodivergent and otherwise "different" or "outsider" people in its membership. I shared it with a neurodivergent Community friend at the annual reatreat, at which the two of us had a deeply spiritual experience in a wood with a deer. Sometimes, it's hard to know where stories end and "real life" begins. And vice versa.
**Named a book to look out for in 2024 by the Sunday Times, Guardian and BBC**
**A small hardback edition featuring an afterword by the author**
From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting and haunting Christmas short story
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'A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really.'
Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees - and she is only ever happy when she is walking in…
A trans monk. A mermaid saint. A headless healer. A werewolf refugee.
Asexual Fairy Tales author Elizabeth Hopkinson lends her numinous storytelling voice to lesser-known saints from Celtic lands in the age of Patrick, Columba and Cuthbert - alongside some of their influencers and inheritors.
From Brigid the Time Traveller to Cædmon the Socially Anxious, from Brendan the Respecter of First Nations to the Black Madonna of Montevergine who protects same-sex couples and traditional third genders, this collection of tales from the past has much to teach us about diversity and inclusion today.
