Feb 122013
 
Call for Submissions: Issue Three of Demeter's Spicebox

Demeter’s Spicebox has been on quite a journey since it first opened, but we are still going strong! In the interest of finding the right/best story for Issue Three of Demeter’s Spicebox, I am re-opening the call for submissions for Issue Three. We have already accepted Alicia Cole’s beautiful Flower of Flowers, Bird of Birds

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Feb 132012
 
Salt by Joshua Gage

Salt by Joshua Gage My friend, do not be tempted by the billowing fragrances of cumin, the crimson piles of pepper, the syrupy perfume of fenugreek that my neighbors offer. Come here, stranger, and look at this. Were a woman powdered in crushed cloves and cinnamon, were her temper blazened with the finest fruits of

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Apr 252011
 
Issue One of Demeter’s Spicebox

For the inaugural issue of Demeter’s Spicebox, we wanted to revisit a tale that stands poised in between the active or passive heroine. Tatterhood, or the Aarne-Thompson folktale type 711, is a tale about both motherhood and what it means to be either the beautiful or ugly twin. The original folktale, as collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, was a favourite of mine as a teenager. How could it not be? It was a tale that was refreshing in that the active and not attractive heroine prevails, but it also captures that insecurity that lies at the heart of every person who has felt marginalised, Othered or has been considered unattractive.

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Jan 102011
 
Demeter Opens her Spicebox

What does Demeter have in her box of spices? Is it the cardamom that fills our mouths with a tiny explosion of fragrance? Could it be star anise, or saffron, or thyme? We think she’ll have a little of everything in that box, but at the moment, it is empty! Every author is a “repository of abundance” and it is from that abundance that Demeter’s Spicebox hopes to draw. Think of these as fusion fairy tales, tales written in the spirit of collaboration, familiar tales given a new taste by a new chef.

Cabinet des Fées is pleased to announce the opening of Demeter’s Spicebox, with its own guidelines and a call for submissions for our inaugural issue.

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 Posted by at 5:29 pm
Jan 112010
 
Being Fluid Yet True To Type: Introducing a Storytelling Experiment

We associate Demeter with the symbol of cornucopia, with food, harvests and abundance. She is also, in Greek mythology, a mother and a Divine nursemaid. As a grieving mother, she was healed by laughter through Baubo’s cheekiness. She was thus implicated in one of the oldest stories about solidarity through humour and storytelling. I’d like

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