You're a storyteller who loves folklore and wants to use it more effectively in the writing craft. I can help!
Who I Am
Greetings! I'm Dr. Ceallaigh S. MacCath-Moran. I 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. I'm also an author, poet, and musician under the pen name C.S. MacCath, and I bring over twenty years of publishing and teaching experience to the Folklore & Fiction project.
What the Folklore & Fiction Project Is
The Folklore & Fiction dispatches and podcasts synthesize these passions with a focus on folklore scholarship aimed at storytellers. Here you can learn what folklore is and learn to use it in the writing craft from the first project ever developed by a professional folklorist for storytellers like you. The podcast is presently on hiatus, but all five seasons are still available free of charge when you sign up for an account here on the Folklore & Fiction website. They've been recommended by the American Folklore Society as a trusted source of folkloristic scholarship, they've been the topic of peer-reviewed ethnographic research, and they've been adopted as an aid to creative writing in several college and university classrooms.
Where the Folklore & Fiction Project is Going
I'm presently writing a book titled The Storyteller's Guide to Folklore, which explains folk narrative, folk belief, and folk life in approachable terms and provides examples of folklore in contemporary literature and life. Writing prompts and exercises take this a step further by encouraging storytellers to combine their newly acquired knowledge with characterization, conflict, dialogue, pacing, plot, world-building, and other story elements. I'm also researching a book titled The Songwriter's Guide to Folklore, which will do similar work for musicians. You can follow my progress on these projects and others the same way you gain access to the dispatch and podcast archives, by signing up for an account here and confirming your subscription to the Folkbyte newsletter.
What Other People Have Said
Folklore & Fiction reminds me a little of spending time in a quiet, dusty campus library, the kind with multiple levels made of brick and marble and ancient woods. Where you might have to venture down into the basement, steps grooved by generations of students' feet, to crawl around in slightly spooky stacks, only to emerge with an armful of forgotten treasures. Your job as a writer is to find the pay dirt, you must discover how to reanimate these gleanings. This description may sound unflattering to some, but I think, to writers at least, it sounds like paradise. I did just such a thing quite recently, using learnings and resources (Like what an ATU is!) obtained from Folklore & Fiction to write something new, and indeed, even to sell that piece. I have F&F to thank for that, and Ceallaigh MacCath-Moran. Thank you for this fantastic resource.
- Nathan Waddell
Some people talk the talk, and walk the walk, but what you do? It goes so far beyond that, I don't even know if there's a name for it. Pretty much the only base you haven't covered would be for you to actually perform a Wicker Man ritual on air. Maybe in the far future, for your final episode?
- Nathan-Andrew Leaflight
Have been listening to your podcasts...They're a great resource for any fantasy fiction writer. Well-produced, informative, knowledgeable, clear, and precise...I recommend them highly. And for anyone just interested in folklore you will gain much enjoyment from them.
- Lykos Nyx
I am greatly enjoying the podcast episodes. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. As a narrative poet, I'm finding much here to apply in my work.
- Steven Withrow
Have a listen to the first podcast episode below, and sign up for a free account to access the archives. Be sure to confirm your subscription to the Folkbyte newsletter to stay in the loop about The Storyteller's Guide to Folklore and other projects.
