My last concert in recent weeks as of this interview was at the aforementioned Faerieworlds festival. I performed with my band, Tricky Pixie, on the “deck” of a pirate ship stage that was making its first appearance at the festival this year. Our crowd came out in force and wore their pirate garb proudly, despite the fact that rain threatened, and they sang along with every word. You can’t beat a life such as this. Real and historic pirates never had it so good.
For more information, visit www.skinnywhitechick.com.
The Writers
Those who create worlds with their words are indeed mages within the Faery community. There are many incredible writers working within the fantasy genre, in many different styles. I was able to interview three outstanding individuals—one that is famous within his field and two wonderful new writers—all with wonderful insights to share.
Charles de Lint
Charles de Lint is an internationally renowned, award-winning fantasy author of over thirty novels, many of which, such as Moonheart and Widdershins, bring the world of Faery into direct contact with the modern urban environment. He is an active member of the Faery community, appearing at many events in the United States. He is also a talented folk musician and has recently released his first album, Old Blue Truck. He was good enough to take the time to answer a few of my questions about his perceptions of Faery and the inspirations behind his work.
Your readers love the way you bring traditional folktales and mythic themes into a contemporary setting. Why do you think Faery is relevant to the modern world?
If by Faery you mean an otherness, a sense that we share the world with beings and things and places that we can’t always see, I believe it opens up possibilities. When the wear and tear of the world we normally experience bears down on us—the rush, the noise, the traffic, possibly the less-than-satisfying job—it’s comforting to imagine that there is more than what we can easily see. That there’s a place that respects the bond between beings and their environment, and celebrates the idea of everything being connected. And even in the darker aspects of Faery there are lessons to be learned, guideposts that we can take with us and use to better ourselves and the “real” world in which we spend so much of our time.
Having just come back from playing at a Faerie festival called FaerieWorlds in Eugene, Oregon, I can also add that Faerie also appears to be a place where one can find joy and an openness one doesn’t usually find in the world at large. There seems to be little pretence in the costuming; rather, it’s a celebration and an artistic expression that infuses both those dressing up and those who don’t. It reminded me a little of hippie music festivals in the sixties, and I’m delighted to see an upsurge in simpler values that include embracing the people around you.
Book cover images used courtesy of Tor Books
What are your main influences as a writer?
Creativity gains its inspiration from everything we experience, it doesn’t matter one’s particular medium (and I’ve noticed that most creative people express themselves in more than one). I think of art as one big conversation, with the huge benefit of allowing us to enter a discourse with the great artists of the past as well as our contemporaries. Ideas for stories come to me from a song I might hear, a story I read, a film, a dance. I don’t mean that I borrow the idea from the original source—rather, I have something to add to the ongoing conversation.
Does your writing reflect your own spiritual beliefs or is it purely fantasy?
It depends what aspect you’re referring to. Unlike, say, Brian Froud, I haven’t had the good fortune of actually seeing fairies, but I certainly sense and seek out the mysteries in the world. I believe that everything has a spirit, everything is connected, and that mystery and wonder should always be celebrated.
You are also a folk singer. Why are the old tales and songs important to you?
The traditional music—especially instrumental tunes—seems to speak directly to the heart at the same time as it moves the body. I love that about it, and it’s what drew me to playing jigs and reels and slow airs in the first place. I also love how you can get together musicians from Canada, Ireland, the States, and Australia, and they can all find something to play because the tunes travel pretty much unchanged throughout the world. As for the ballads and songs, they’re narratives, and they appeal to me for the same reason that folktales and fairy tales do. They awake my sense of wonder, and I love the poetic turn of phrase sitting side by side with a very down-to-earth line.
Although I’ve played the old traditional music for years, over the past decade or so I’ve turned more to contemporary story songs. I suppose it’s because the narratives take place in more familiar settings, much the way the settings in the old ballads were familiar to the listeners at the time that those songs were first composed.
I’ve just put out my first album, Old Blue Truck, after thirty years of meaning to do so, and I’m delighted by the response from listeners. The songs seem to appeal to them in the same way that music appeals to me, and that’s a most gratifying thing.
For more information, visit www.charlesdelint.com.
Karen Mahoney
Karen Mahoney is a talented, young, up-and-coming writer of fantasy fiction for young adults who lives in London, UK. She is the author of the Iron
