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Denise Dutton
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Recent Posts
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Reading Groups (A Letter to Anna)
- What’s New for the 28th of May: All Sorts of Interesting Reviews, Page and Plant’s ‘Kashmir’ and Kage’s Favourite Folk Song
- A Kinrowan Estate Story: The Green Lady
- What’s New for the 14 of May: Lots of live music plus some new jazz and country; urban fantasy, horror, and classic sf; new Oreos;
- A Kinrowan Estate story: The Calamity Janes
- What’s New for the 30th of April: Some new sf, old sf and con mysteries; lots of Celtic music and Willie Nelson’s birthday bash; a Hans Christian Andersen biopic; and lots of booze
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Hidden Bookstore
- What’s New for the 16th of April: Matty Groves as done by Sandy Denny, Mushroom Hunting, Michael Kaluta, Shane McGowan, some books that touch on the American Pastime, Norwegian folk, a Swiss classical take on American music, The Weavers, Federal Music Project, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Estate gossip (A Letter to Tessa)
- What’s New for the 2nd of April: Kaiju preservation, Francesca Lia Block; lots of Alan Moore; Celtic music, organ jazz trios, West Coast jazz, and meld of American exotica, minimalist jazz, and Middle Eastern modes
- A Kinrowan Estate story: The Wood
- What’s New for the 19th of March: Rough Guides, Brian Vaughan’s The Escapist, Douglas Adams considered, Pamela Dean’s favourite ballad, Woodie Guthrie, Turkish Coffee, A big review of books about music, Red Molly Live
- A Travel Abroad story: Moonshine
- What’s New for the 5th of March: Books about Celtic music, some sff and mysteries too; some Celtic music reviews; Mouse Guard, Two Fat Ladies, ice cream, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Mrs. Ware Prepares an Eventide Meal
- What’s New for the 19th of February: Pipes, pipes and more pipes; hot cocoa;r Baker’s favorite folk take; guides to Celtic music and sf; graphic adaptations of classic YA novels; a live-action Alice in Wonderland; new music from Spain and a box set from the ’90s
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Fireplaces in Kinrowan Hall
- What’s New for the 5th of February: Time travel stories, Fairport and related music, a desert island disc, graphic classics, an Alice in Wonderland adaptation, and lots of chocolate
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Our Rooms
- What’s New for the 22nd of January: Lots of mysteries; ambient music, jazz, Norwegian Americana, and lots of English folk rock; live yoiking; and comfort food
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Blizzard (A Letter to Tessa)
- What’s New for the 8th of January: Books about music – Sandy Denny, Fairport, Tommy James, Jethro Tull, Beatles and more; Festival Express; music about booze; Nordic music reviews old and new; and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Gathering of Stitchers
- What’s New for 25th of December: DeLint, Irish folklore, firecrackers and sf; the Grinch, eggnog, and The Polar Express; holiday themed music, and Jennifer Stevenson’s ‘Solstice’
- A Kinrowan Estate Story: Nicholas
- What’s New for the 11th of December: DeLint and Yolen, some space opera and a lot of Peanuts; holiday music from Norway, Jethro Tull, and elsewhere; new music from Unthank:Smith, Melissa Carper, ambient country, new prog jazz, heavy Nordic folk rock; and a wee nibbling mousie
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Of Bloodied Kings
- What’s New for the 27th of November: sf, mysteries, and an sf mystery; Finnish light jazz and tango, plus music of a leftover nature; autumnal gardening, Oysters with June Tabor; and rhubarb wine?
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Of Puppets and Their Masters (A Letter to Anna)
- What’s New for the 13th of November: SF from G. Willow Wilson, R F Kuang, Emery Robin, Everina Maxwell, Larry Niven, and some detective fiction; Persepolis; Vonnegut-inspired jazz, English and Welsh folk music, Balkan music; truly bad candy; some Tolkieniana, and more
Josepha Sherman’s Winter Queen Speech
What is Winter? A time to fear? A time for darkness and death? No. Winter is merely part of the endless cycle of sleep and awakening, dying and rebirth. The trees know it: they don’t die each year. They merely sleep through the coldness and put out new leaves in the spring. The birds know it: they come and go by the seasons. The snow is merely a blanket that protects the earth, insulating it against the cold and providing it with moisture in the spring. The darkness doesn’t last throughout. It ends in the middle of the winter, with the solstice in December, and the light returns even in the deepest cold of winter. No, Winter is nothing to fear.
Are there folktales of Winter that see it as just another part of the natural cycle? Yes, too many to list here.
A Russian folktale tells of a girl abused by her stepmother, who has her left out in the winter forest to die. Morosko, Old Man Winter, appears, approves of the girl’s politeness to him, and rewards her with wealth. Another Russian tale personifies Winter’s melting into Spring in the story of Snegourichka, the Snow Maiden who comes to live with an old couple one Winter, but melts away in Spring. This story so intrigued the nineteenth century Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov that he wrote an opera about her.
There are small folk beliefs: in British and American folklore, there is the harmless spirit, Jack Frost (possibly from the Norse Jokul Frosti), who paints the leaves and windows with rime frost.
And it can hardly be considered coincidental that so many religions down through the century have held celebrations about the winter solstice, from the current Christmas and Channukah (which have nothing in common save for being holidays of light) back to ancient customs such as the Norse Yule and the Roman Saturnalia.
Listen to the Winter. Hear the wind’s shouting die and the soft whispering of the snow begin. Remember that the cycle continues, and enjoy what was, what is, what is to come.
Josepha Sherman
Diverse Voices
Diverse Voices is our catch-all for writers and other staffers who did but a few reviews or other writings for us. They are credited at the beginning of the actual writing if we know who they are which we don't always. It also includes material by writers that first appeared in the Sleeping Hedgehog, our in-house newsletter for staff and readers here. Some material is drawn from Folk Tales, Mostly Folk and Roots & Branches, three other publications we've done.
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