Ebony, Blood, and Snow
Short story collection coming soon
Inspired by familiar fairy tales, author Tish Black’s debut short story collection takes the tales in new directions and rewrites history: Little Red hunts wolves, Gretel helps the witch, and Bluebeard’s wife gets revenge. These transgressive stories challenge readers’ ideas of what the tales could mean to them. There’s more to learn from fairy tale heroines than how to be eaten, rescued, or married. These unconventional heroines fight the patriarchy with no time for romance; instead, readers will find tales of revenge, sisterhood, political revolt, and independence. Conveying the radical feminism of Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and the defiance of Emma Donoghue’s Kissing the Witch, Black’s collection of thirteen tales redefines the fairy tale heroine.
As Told By Wolves: Little Red Riding Hood Films
Available now on YouTube
The story of Little Red has always been told by wolves… starting with Charles Perrault changing the French oral tale into a warning of how pretty girls ought to behave and continuing in films with men filmmakers sexing up Red in 40s cartoons, teaching girls to obey their parents in children’s films, and attempting to use the tale to “do feminism” on women’s behalf. In all that- has anyone really understood the tale?
How Snow White Films Define Beauty and Power
Available now on YouTube
Snow White films, mostly directed and written by men, use beauty, magic, and combat to create a story of two women fighting for a single position of power. They turn a vain woman into an evil power-hungry witch and an abused young woman into a warrior. In watching these Snow White movies, I saw how the male filmmakers defined beauty, created power, and tried to give Snow White some agency.