Happy New Year, everyone! It's been a while since I posted a year-end report, but I think 2021 certainly calls for it! Here's what I accomplished.
On the Folklore & Fiction Front
Folklore & Fiction benefitted greatly from its move to a dispatch and podcast format. As of today, podcast episodes have been played a total of 1946 times, which is good for a new, somewhat niche audio offering. In August, I used material from the 2019-2020 "Genre" series to deliver a webinar for the Canadian Authors Association titled Folk Narrative for Writers: An Introduction, which was well-received. Speaking of well-received, I've heard good things from readers and listeners, including this jewel from April:
Finally, I've heard from storytellers who use the Folklore & Fiction material in their work and have gone on to sell that work to publishers, which is the best possible feedback, because it means the project is helping storytellers do what they do best.
In 2022, I'm tackling a few requests from storytellers, musicians, and teachers who follow the project and have specific research interests, podcasting the "Genre" series archives, and diving more deeply into connections between folklore and the sacred.
On the Academic Front
MacCath-Moran, Ceallaigh. 2021. 'Approaches to Three Crises in an Ethnographic Study of the Toronto Animal Rights Community'. Presented at Folklore and Crisis: Online, June 5.
On June 5, 2021, I presented a discussion of my doctoral research at the annual Folklore Studies Association of Canada meeting. My presentation was titled "Approaches to Three Crises in an Ethnographic Study of the Toronto Animal Rights Community." I've made that work available on my Academia.edu account, and you're free to download it there. In 2022, my primary project and focus will be the completion of my dissertation, and I'll hope to report success on that front this time next year.
On the Music Front
2021 was the year I began recording my first EP, titled Shatter and Rise. This is an independent project I plan to release on May 1, 2022, and it contains three original songs I've written and recorded in my studio here on Cape Breton Island. Of these, "Cruel Johnny" is a subverted adaptation of Child 10 "The Twa Sisters," which I discussed in the April 2021 Folklore & Fiction dispatch and podcast. Here's a rough mix of the song, which I sang as the example ballad that month:
On the Writing Front
I've had two stories come out in anthologies this year:
“The Moon.” In Arcana, edited by Rhonda Parrish, 334. Edmonton: Poise and Pen Publishing.
As the moon transits the sky, so does our hero become a heroine. A short prose poem based on The Moon card of the tarot major arcana.
“Metal Crow and Ghost Crow.” In G Is for Ghosts, edited by Rhonda Parrish, 33–40. Poise and Pen Publishing.
Metal Crow learns what it means to have a soul, while Ghost Crow laments the lack of souls in others.
Both are eligible for the Aurora, Hugo, and Nebula awards, and I'll be glad to send you a reading packet if you'd like to consider them while voting.
I was also commissioned to write a podcast radio play for the Odyssey Theatre, titled "The Belt and the Necklace," which will be released as part of The Other Path Podcast series. Here's a theatrical teaser of the performance to come:
Please note that the teaser you've just heard was specially produced for this podcast by a busy production team, and Nicole Wilson is mis-identified as Chandel Gambles in the credits. However, Ms. Gambles does indeed bring her considerable talents to "The Belt and the Necklace," and you'll get to hear both her voice and Jeremy Hutton's in February 2022.
I'm also super chuffed to report that 2021 was the year I qualified to join SFWA.
In 2022, I'll hope to finish Threnody for a Dark Earth, the first novel in my Song and Covenant contemporary fantasy series.
Finally, I grew a ton of root vegetables and some gorgeous sunflowers, and I put away a proper hoard of pickled cucumbers and carrots.
That's it for this year, and I think it's enough! Thanks so much for your time. I wish you every blessing in 2022!