I'm writing this end-of-year post in a rush, as I'm about to have our traditional house full of D&D gamers overnight. But it's been a banner year, and I didn't want to fare it well without writing about it.
Early in the year, I released The Folklore & Fiction Ballads EP, which was the culmination of four years of ballad research, discussion, and performance in the Folklore & Fiction podcast. Shortly thereafter, Hyldyr published a new edition of the historical Pennsylvania Dutch grimoire The Long Hidden Friend containing my introduction. My review of Stories of the Past: Viewing History Through Fiction was published in the Spring 2025 edition of the Journal of American Folklore, and then I signed with my agent Kelly Thomas of Serendipity Literary Agency. Later in the year, Hyldyr published a new edition of William Morris' House of the Wolfings, a direct inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's fiction, which also included my introduction. Last but not least, my short story "A Mouth Full of Stones" was serialized in The Daily Tomorrow. Along the way, I attended the first Hyldyr moot in Reykjavik for writers and artists associated with the press, was a guest author at Sydney Comic Con, chaired the Shapeshifting Stories panel at the World Fantasy Convention, and served as the völva at a High Seat ritual in England. I ended the year by releasing my first course, Field Notes for Storytellers, which teaches research methods for authors and journalists.
Needless to say, it's been good to have the PhD behind me.
In 2026, I'll certainly finish The Storyteller's Guide to Folklore and deliver a paper titled "Passion, Empathy, and Action: A Critical Introduction to The Climate Fiction Writers League" at the International Society for Folk Narrative Research conference in Reykjavik. I'll also be writing that ethnographic article about my High Seat experience, tentatively titled "The High Seat: Ecstatic Nordic Ritual from Under the Veil." I'm also planning to begin a fantasy novel series, release an EP, and put out another short course for storytellers. I'll keep you posted about those plans in due course.
Meanwhile, I have guests about to arrive, and a Lawful Good Aasimar sorcerer to play. I'll see you in 2026.
With Every Blessing for the New Year,
Ceallaigh
Dr. Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran holds B.A. in Celtic Studies from the University of Toronto, an M.A. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Maine, and a PhD in Folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. She's also an author, poet, and musician under the names Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran and C.S. MacCath. Her long-running Folklore & Fiction project integrates these passions with a focus on folklore scholarship aimed at storytellers, and she brings a deep appreciation of animism, ecology, and folkloristics to her own storytelling. You can find her online at csmaccath.com, folkloreandfiction.com, and linktr.ee/csmaccath.
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