Myths, legends, fairy tales, and fables are distinct folk narrative types with specific characteristics, but the terms are often conflated in common usage, and the genres themselves are sometimes muddied in contemporary storytelling. Many writers and readers also believe they are inflexible categories of established tales, when in reality they are dynamic tools we can use to weave familiar narrative patterns into new tales.
With this in mind, I invite you to join me for an introduction to folk narrative and a discussion of its applicability to fiction writing. You’ll learn what folklorists mean when we use the term “genre” to describe narrative types, and you’ll learn how we understand myths, legends, fairy tales, and fables.
At the end of the webinar, you’ll be able to distinguish between these genres yourself, and you’ll have a few guiding principles for utilizing them in your writing.
Presenter: Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran
Date: Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Time: 7:00–8:30 pm EST | 4:00 pm PST | 5:00 pm MST | 6:00 pm CST | 8:00 AST
Length: 90 minutes (including Q&A)
Level: Basic and Intermediate
Type: Informational
A free webinar offered by the Canadian Authors Association in partnership with SF Canada. Sign up here: https://canadianauthors.
Dr. Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran holds hold 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 is also an author, poet, and musician under the name 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.
© 2025 Dr. Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran. All rights reserved unless Creative Commons licensing is specifically applied. To read the full "Copyright Statement and Usage Guide," visit https://csmaccath.com/copyright.