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Spirited Away: Fairy stories of old Newfoundland

by Tom Dawe

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Newfoundland is rife with stories of fairies who mislead, play tricks, or sometimes, spirit folks away. A rustle of a leaf, a glint at the corner of ones eye -- these fairies lurk, menacing and amoral, at the edges of settled life. The pages of Spirited Away are populated by people who wander onto fairy paths or fall under the spell of mysterious music, who find themselves lost in surroundings long familiar, or find family members grown strange -- people irrevocably changed by their eerie encounters. Passed on as rumours and whispers, told at a remove, stories of fairies are still heard today. These literary renderings of stories and anecdotes Tom Dawe has collected across the island offer an accessible and engaging introduction to one of Old Newfoundlands most powerful and peculiar folk traditions. Veselina Tomovas darkly poetic wood-cut illustrations plumb the fascinating heart of these strange and affecting stories. Spirited Away stands as a companion volume to Dawe and Tomova's chilling An Old Man's Winter Night: Ghostly Tales.

About the Author

Tom Dawe has been a high school teacher, English professor, visual artist, editor, writer, and poet. He has published numerous volumes, including poetry, folklore, and childrens literature. His latest works include Where Genesis Begins, winner of The Canadian Authors Association Poetry Award; Moocher in the Lun, winner of the Bruneau Award for Childrens Literature; and The Wonderful Dogfish Racket. His work has appeared in many magazines, journals, and anthologies. In the seventies, during the Newfoundland Renaissance, he was one of the founders of Breakwater Books, a founding editor of TickleAce, and prose editor of The Livyere, a folklore journal. In 2002 Martina Seiferts comprehensive study, Rewriting Newfoundland Mythology: The Works of Tom Dawe , was published in Germany and Cambridge, Mass., USA. Recipient of many awards and honours, in 2007 he was awarded a WANL Lifetime Membership Award and was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Hall of Honour. In 2010 he was named St. Johns Poet Laureate. In 2012 he was named a member of the Order of Canada and also of the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador. Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Veselina Tomova graduated from Leipzig's School of Graphic Art and Book Design before moving to Newfoundland. A graphic designer and award-winning artist, she has illustrated books in Germany, Bulgaria, and Canada. She divides her time between St. John's, Newfoundland, where she lives in a small house overlooking the harbour, and Rusalya, Bulgaria, where she tends her family's vegetable garden and enjoys the antics of Bucky the dog and Ginger the cat. Her book The Wall & the Wind was included in the Globe & Mail's top 100 books of 2020.

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