Sunday 22 May 2016


Workshop: The Origins of Fantasy with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 27th May, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop will look at the history of fantasy and how this relates to understanding the modern genre of fantasy writing. Writers will read  excerpts from Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Aladdin's Lamp and The Lord of the Rings, and will work on two writing exercises to inspire new tales.
Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre,
Time: 1-3pm. What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or ipad

Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save). Please note: New attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to leave. 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF FANTASY LITERATURE 

Fantasy fiction can trace its roots back to ancient mythology, in particular Homer's Odyssey written in the 9th century BC. It chronicles the fictional adventures of a hero returning to Ithaca after the capture of Troy. Beowulf (ca 700AD), the earliest surviving epic poem written in English, is another early work containing fantasy elements - such as witches, monsters and dragons. Perhaps more recognisable to modern audiences, the legend of King Arthur has been told and re-told many times over. Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur (ca 1470; printed 1485) is recognised as the earliest definitive account of the legend.

William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-96) depicted a wild and fantastical world of fairies, while Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726) is a biting social satire told in four distinct parts - each set in their own fantasy world. Also of note is the literature of German origin, probably beginning around 1785, focusing on the caricature of Baron Münchausen - an aristocratic scoundrel known for telling tongue-in-cheek lies and incredible stories. Many children's fairy tales, particularly those published from 1812-15 by the Brothers Grimm, have also contributed to the development of the fantasy genre. The Brothers Grimm travelled from village to village for thirteen years collecting fairy tales such as 'Cinderella', 'Snow White' and 'Rumpelstiltskin' - and prided themselves on making accurate transcriptions of the stories they were told.

Although many stories containing large doses of fantasy were published in the interim, the next that was to have a major impact was Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). The young heroine finds herself in a bizarre world of pure imagination, full of surreal characters and nonsensical events. The genre well and truly came of age with the publication William Morris' The Wood Beyond the World (1894). A simple romance set in a medieval never-never land, the hero flees his loveless wife and eventually ends up battling a dwarf to free the maiden he loves. Also of note from this period, although far less typical of the genre, is the seminal gothic horror Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker.

Whilst a handful of fantasy greats were published in the early-20th century, fantasy truly came of age in 1937 with the publication of The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien, followed by the landmark Lord of the Rings in 1954. Along with C S Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia and Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea series, Tolkien's books helped forge a distinctive identity for the fantasy genre. Fantasy short fiction, often regarded as an adjunct in sci-fi magazines, also got a boost with the first issue of the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1949.

By 1977 with the publication of Terry Brooks' Sword of Shannara, fantasy novels were finally making an impact on bestseller lists. Throughout the late-80s and early-90s sword & sorcery books by David Eddings, Robert Jordan and George R R Martin continued to sell well. In more recent times authors like Guy Gavriel Kay, the boundary-shattering China Miéville and humorists Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman are helping to ensure that fantasy literature will have plenty of life left in it for years to come.

Sunday 8 May 2016

Writing Fantasy Workshop with Helen Hagemann @ the Fremantle Arts Centre, Friday, 13th May, 1pm-3pm.  This workshop will look at the ten major writing tips for writing Fantasy. Writers will read an excerpt from Susanna Clarke's Fantasy novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (also a BBC TV series), and will be given two writing exercises with prompts.
Venue: Fremantle Arts Centre, Room 2
Time: 1-3pm
What to bring:  Notepad, pen, laptop or ipad
Cost:  OOTA $20  - NON-OOTA $25 (ask for membership form to save). 
Please note: New attendees who arrive without the class fee will be asked to leave.


MAJOR SEVEN-PART BBC TV SERIES. OVER 1 MILLION COPIES SOLDTwo magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me ...

The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.


Reviews

“Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years. It's funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical ... Closing Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell after 800 pages my only regret was that it wasn't twice the length” –  Neil Gaiman
“The language of the book is such a pleasure you'd probably want to go and read it anyway” –  Lauren Laverne, BBC Radio 6
“Best novel I've ever read” –  Richard Madeley
“'An elegant and witty historical fantasy which deserves to be judged on its own (considerable) merit'” –  Sunday Telegraph
“'Full of spells, bad weather, statues that talk, haunted ballrooms and sinister gentlemen with thistledown hair ... be enchanted! *****'” –  Elle
“'A nourishing, 19th-century-style novel that will warm readers through any number of dark and stormy nights ... Clarke makes her magical story ridiculously engrossing'” –  Daily Telegraph
“'This is, in both the precise and the colloquial sense, a fabulous book ... a highly original and compelling work'” –  Sunday Times
“I read it years ago and loved it … They've preserved the scale and majesty of the story … So you have credible, fully imagined characters recognisably of the same world we inhabit” –  Bertie Carvel
“I read the book and loved it. It sort of obsessed me for a while and I felt an affinity with what turned out to be my character, Vinculus. I found the footnotes addictive! If there wasn't one on the next page I would be disappointed” –  Paul Kaye
Bookmark and Share


Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell BBC Trailer




- See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/jonathan-strange-and-mr-norrell-9781408856888/#sthash.m3RuKvoK.dpuf
 

MAJOR SEVEN-PART BBC TV SERIES. OVER 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD

Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me ...

The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.

Reviews


“Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years. It's funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical ... Closing Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell after 800 pages my only regret was that it wasn't twice the length” –  Neil Gaiman “The language of the book is such a pleasure you'd probably want to go and read it anyway” –  Lauren Laverne, BBC Radio 6
“Best novel I've ever read” –  Richard Madeley
“'An elegant and witty historical fantasy which deserves to be judged on its own (considerable) merit'” –  Sunday Telegraph
“'Full of spells, bad weather, statues that talk, haunted ballrooms and sinister gentlemen with thistledown hair ... be enchanted! *****'” –  Elle
“'A nourishing, 19th-century-style novel that will warm readers through any number of dark and stormy nights ... Clarke makes her magical story ridiculously engrossing'” –  Daily Telegraph
“'This is, in both the precise and the colloquial sense, a fabulous book ... a highly original and compelling work'” –  Sunday Times
“I read it years ago and loved it … They've preserved the scale and majesty of the story … So you have credible, fully imagined characters recognisably of the same world we inhabit” –  Bertie Carvel
“I read the book and loved it. It sort of obsessed me for a while and I felt an affinity with what turned out to be my character, Vinculus. I found the footnotes addictive! If there wasn't one on the next page I would be disappointed” –  Paul Kaye


MAJOR SEVEN-PART BBC TV SERIES. OVER 1 MILLION COPIES SOLDTwo magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me ...

The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.


Reviews

“Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years. It's funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical ... Closing Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell after 800 pages my only regret was that it wasn't twice the length” –  Neil Gaiman
“The language of the book is such a pleasure you'd probably want to go and read it anyway” –  Lauren Laverne, BBC Radio 6
“Best novel I've ever read” –  Richard Madeley
“'An elegant and witty historical fantasy which deserves to be judged on its own (considerable) merit'” –  Sunday Telegraph
“'Full of spells, bad weather, statues that talk, haunted ballrooms and sinister gentlemen with thistledown hair ... be enchanted! *****'” –  Elle
“'A nourishing, 19th-century-style novel that will warm readers through any number of dark and stormy nights ... Clarke makes her magical story ridiculously engrossing'” –  Daily Telegraph
“'This is, in both the precise and the colloquial sense, a fabulous book ... a highly original and compelling work'” –  Sunday Times
“I read it years ago and loved it … They've preserved the scale and majesty of the story … So you have credible, fully imagined characters recognisably of the same world we inhabit” –  Bertie Carvel
“I read the book and loved it. It sort of obsessed me for a while and I felt an affinity with what turned out to be my character, Vinculus. I found the footnotes addictive! If there wasn't one on the next page I would be disappointed” –  Paul Kaye
Bookmark and Share


Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell BBC Trailer




- See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/jonathan-strange-and-mr-norrell-9781408856888/#sthash.m3RuKvoK.dpuf

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12th, Friday 1pm - early December 2019 1pm-3pm

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    Writing at the Centre is an independent writing class conducted each Friday at the Fremantle Arts Centre, Print Room, upstairs in the main building.

    PROSE CLASS TERMS 3-4, 2019

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