Fairy Tale Conference 2025

It was a fabulous weekend at the Prince Henry Centre, looking over Little Bay in Sydney. Whales were breaching in the distance as the conference began (pointed out to us by Aunty Barb).

A watery theme this year for the Australian Fairy Tale Society conference as my notes from session 2 show. - Authors, writers, poets, artists, performers and enthusiasts celebrated, talked and waved hands about Mermaids, whales, divers, shipwrecks, selkies, more mermaids, Bean Nighe, kelpies, fish, sprites, water dragons and more.

Highlights for me were: hearing Kate Forsyth talk about Hans Christian Andersen, Kell Woods' talk about her research for her book Upon a Starlit Tide, Erin-Claire Barrow's The Adventurer’s Guide to Folklore Waterways and Geologist Molly O'Neill talking about How Water Shapes Our Stories. There was so much to enjoy and appreciate. Thank you to the Sydney group for their fine organisation.

Here is the award I created 9 years ago - and this year my name is on it! I think I managed to express my thanks and warmth felt by being so honoured by my fairytale community. But who knows, as I was slightly overwhelmed!