Inviting Interruptions

With this original and hybrid collection of wonder tales, Bacchilega and Orme extend to us an invitation to wander – and get temporarily lost – in the woods of contemporary folklore and fairy tales. [. . .] Indeed, only by inviting ourselves into these tales and accepting to interrupt and modify them can we, in turn, hope to recognize and reclaim our own of sense of otherness and wonder.

~Apolline Weibel, Gramarye: The Chichester Centre for Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction

The stories and artworks in this book both invite and interrupt; not a single text is ho-hum, delivering a staid happily-ever-after. These are beautiful pieces that promise to reward curiosity, though with pleasure or pain depends on the text and on the reader, and the editors have framed the pieces with exquisite care and attention to detail. My only complaint is that I wanted more by the time I had finished the book.

~Jeana Jorgensen, Journal of Folklore Research

Inviting Interruptions is a major contribution to the field: an anthology of contemporary fairy tales that seeks to match and continue—in ambition, liveliness, and ideological orientation—the promise of the great renaissance of fairy tales of the 1970s and 1980s. Matching that promise involves recognizing and responding to changes in our political climate, as well as to changes in our attitude to the very idea of a climate. Inviting Interruptions does so inspiringly. There simply isn’t a volume of this kind currently on the market.

~Stephen Benson, senior lecturer in the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom

Inviting Interruptions is, indeed, an amazing collection of expressionist fairy tales that reflect the troublesome times in which we live. The editors of this remarkable anthology, Cristina Bacchilega and Jennifer Orme, have carefully gathered narratives, artworks, graphic stories, and photos that will cause readers to pause in astonishment. Due to the explosion of ‘wonder’ tales in the twenty-first century, they could have added several hundred more. As it is, their selection—bringing together Shaun Tan, Kelly Link, Rosario Ferré, David Kaplan, and Joellyn Rock among the talented writers and artists—is a significant achievement. This is a book to read and ponder in the chaotic years to come.

~Jack Zipes, University of Minnesota

The tales themselves are generally engaging and of high quality, and the notes are eclectic in their theoretical approaches.... Many of the tales could be used profitably in undergraduate courses on fairy tales, especially to bring in new perspectives not likely explored by nonspecialists.

~M. Pierce, Choice

In a fairy-tale world wherein the best prevail (which doesn't include every fairy tale!) this truly innovative anthology would replace all others. Where most books of wonder tales focus on literary versions, using visuals primarily as illustration, Inviting Interruptions fully engages with photography, graphic novel, sculpture, film, painting, drawing, and multimedia visual art as much as with the written word. Bacchilega and Orme offer verbal-text-driven fairy-tale studies an entirely engaging disturbance.

~Pauline Greenhill

Inviting Interruptions is a treasure trove for all who like to think with and about fairy tales. Its unique combination of texts and visuals celebrates the richness of fairy-tale material today. The editors' notes open the conversation on potential meanings for each contribution, making this collection indispensable for courses in fairy-tale studies that want to keep up with this genre's latest developments.

~Vanessa Joosen