An Interview With Jane Yolen

A poet, journalist, novelist, and children’s author, Yoren touches the lives and imaginations of all ages through more than 400 books. I have touched Yolen’s Children’s Fiction spent hours entertaining children with her series of dinosaurs. And as an adult, I’ve enjoyed reading her twisted fairy tales. Scarlet Circus.

Young and old alike will appreciate her mastery of language and storytelling, from romance novel readers to dark and dark lovers. She sat down and chatted with us about her fairy tales, writing, etc. and honored us.

[GdM:] you have a home in scotland what about scotland? Are you attracted to this country?

My late husband was a professor at UMass, Amherst and on his first sabbatical.Partly because he was half Scottish (Douglas was clean, partly because he fell in love with Scotland on a previous trip to England, partly because Scotland was a very good student at various universities). In many of the computer science departments, we took a sabbatical in Edinburgh. Found a clear match.We went there on sabbatical

A place where many fantasy and sci-fi writers and poets have found living nearby. Dear readers… I bought it!

[GdM:] How do you choose your work when writing? Is it a matter of mood and inspiration, or do you have a more fixed idea of ​​what you need to do next?

JY: All of the above. In addition, I regularly review unfinished or unsold works and try to find anything that needs fixing.

[GdM:] Are there any topics you don’t write poetically about?

JY No. Anything goes.

[GdM:] As a prolific poet, do you consider poetry your greatest love? If so, what is it that attracts you so much?

{Petri and Fantasy were my first love and it stuck. Favorite poems are “Jabberwock” and Dickinson and Yeats.

[GdM:] Are you still sending your subscribers one poem a day? Are you inspired by the news, world events, or beautiful things you see in everyday life to make up your poem for the day?

JY: In addition to all of the above, I see squirrels, foxes, bobcats, and bears when I look out of my window, a line from a favorite poem, a newspaper clipping, something someone asked me. Farmland! A lot is happening every day.

[GdM:] Over the years, you have provided your own take on various Arthurian myths. What draws you to the stories of Merlin, Guinevere and Arthur?

JY: The first books I read (I was a very early reader) were the two Alice in Wonderland books and the book on Kind Arthur. Also, my parents could read anything in the library and had a lot of books. Nothing was off limits. (I hope modern librarians and the idiots who are trying to ban books in schools will listen!!! While reading books widely in my head, I am becoming a citizen of the world. I have 3 kids and reading things we didn’t know or disagree with makes us better citizens, better people, more interesting became.

[GdM:] Do you have any advice for writers who want to write books for children? To write for a non-child audience, the skills they need, which they may not have yet, are something?

JY: You don’t have to have children (sometimes that helps), but read the classics of your childhood as well as the books that are currently in print. We will also participate in the SCBWI. (An association of children’s book writers and illustrators, a 50-year-old opld organization.) Join his SCBWI group in your area and participate in the meeting of the criticism group. read, read, read. Read aloud while you write, because the vast majority of children are read to in the classroom by their parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians, and writers. The ears are as important a leader as the eyes.

[GdM:] I’m a Cat Rambo fan and I especially enjoyed it. The Mind Reinvented: A Futuristic Relationship StoryWas it a surprise or planned that this book builds on your poetic contributions?

JY: I sent you a poem, and I think Cat liked it and included it that way. It wasn’t really planned.

[GdM:] tell me about scarlet circus?

JY: I was doing a series of collections of sci-fi/fantasy poetry tachyons and publishers that I published, and we were discussing what we could do next. I was doing horror collections and fairy tale collections, but I was asked, “What about love?” I replied, “Some of my stories contain love, but I don’t write romances.” (I was thinking about romance novels, but not my cuppa, so I don’t read that genre.) “But…” I said. But I did. And as a 17-year-old widow, I had just remarried to my college boyfriend (also a widower), so it seemed prophetic.

[GdM:] How does the author shatter the fairy tale? How do you choose how much to shatter the story and how to put it back together?

JY: Start by re-reading your favorite fairy tales and folk tales, and break them down to make them more modern (which mainly means giving women more agency!) or another historical Start by setting it to a different setting or giving it a different voice. That doesn’t mean “break them”. fracture Definitely push in that direction. For example, ask yourself why you think a prince kissing a sleeping girl is romantic. In fact, in some early versions of the story, he rapes a young woman in her sleep and she wakes up a year later with her twin, using her for a coffee table display of necrophilia? Something disgusting as well? Maybe dinner? Or….What does he do when she wakes up and starts talking?I think there are a lot of short stories out there! Or a novel. One of which he wrote, BRIAR ROSE’s Holocaust novel.

[GdM:] What modern stories might be picked up and deciphered in the future?

Depends. If it’s an actual folktale (no copyright) or someone’s new fairy tale (copyright restrictions).

[GdM:] What are your favorite poems and fragmented fairy tales in your collection and why?

JY: I would like to introduce my favorite collection from Scarlet Circus. Because this is the latest collection, and the closest one currently. My favorite story is “A Ghost of An Affair”. Because she’s 80 and it feels like she expects to marry her 82-year-old husband. We dated in college and reunited as widows. The time travel element is very real to us. Like the poem I wrote for him at the beginning of our new relationship time travel.

[GdM:] your book, midnight circus, emerald circusand now scarlet circus, with a circus visual theme between them. What is the relationship between the circus and these fragmented fairy tales?

JY: Magic. just magic.

[GdM:] In the story notes and poetry section of The Scarlet Circus, he stated that the poem “Hero’s Thumb” was featured on the band’s 2018 CD. Now I need to know: How was your band formed?

I was at u0m writing songs for a few musicians (both female) who decided to start a band.

We were the Three Ravens (who had a male guitarist) and Jane Yoren. I wrote a lot of song lyrics and read poetry in between. We played a lot of gigs and, like many bands, broke up after a year.

[GdM:] scarlet circus, featuring various forms of love. It was interesting to read your comments about her two stories, “Ghost of an Affair,” which reflects her second marriage, and “Sea Man,” which focuses on family ties. This was written while your first husband was still alive. How was the writing process for these two very personal stories different from some of the other stories in your collection?

you: hmm don’t know. After a while (when I was actually writing the endorsement), I didn’t realize that both were really part of my personal story. But that’s what writers do, they turn their stories into something else. Sometimes magic, sometimes horror, sometimes love songs for spouses and family. And in some cases, I think it can go back to a bad relationship.

[GdM:] what are you reading now?

JY: I just finished a new story collection for Peter Beagle. oh! is he good And ms. My friends’ very devastating Holocaust novels that took place in Hungary and my revised version of my own trilogy, middle school novels in which nineteenth-century Scottish school children fight monsters. Organized and led. Each of the three children has a role. Pone he is Tracker, one he is Gaffer and one is Bait. The book is R&A (Royal & Ancient)’s Monster Hunter series. Coming out in 2024, possibly from the Charlesbridge imprint, Move Books.

Thank you for your time. I know you have a busy schedule, but I would appreciate it if you could tell me about The Scarlet Circus.

Interviewed by Beth Tabler and Jodie Crump

Read Jane Yoren’s Scarlet Circus