I’ve compiled a list of some of the markets and resources I’ve found most helpful for writers who find themselve working with mythic elements in their prose and poetry.

Markets and Resources for Mythopoeic Fantasy(Incomplete and idiosyncratic) 

Journals, e-zines 

Goblin Fruithttp://www.goblinfruit.net/winter/poetry  

Greenman Review http://www.greenmanreview.com/ online cultural arts magazine focusing on myth and folk roots.

Magazine of Speculative Poetry
Roger Dutcher, Editor

Mythic Deliriumhttp://www.zahirtales.com/new light on genre tropes, that introduces readers to the legends of other cultures, that re-evaluates the myths of old from a modern perspective, that twists reality in unexpected ways. 

Mythic Passages (the e-zine of the Mythic Imaginations institute) http://www.mythicjourneys.org/. 

Parabola Magazinehttp://www.parabola.org/Parabola is a quarterly journal devoted to the exploration of the quest for meaning as it is expressed in the world’s myths, symbols, and religious traditions, with particular emphasis on the relationship between this store of wisdom and our modern life. 

Strange Horizonshttp://www.strangehorizons.com/Art, fiction, poetry, reviews 

Sybil’s Garage A magazine of speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream,  

Zahir: Journal of Speculative Fiction http://www.zahirtales.com/The best in speculative fiction by both new and established writers. Each issue features an eclectic mix of literary fantasy, science fiction, magical realism, and stories that are not so easily classified. 

Resources for Writers  Encylcopedia Mythica http://www.pantheon.org/ This is an always-growing collection of detailed entries on characters, stories, and motifs from myth cycles from around the world.Endicott Studiohttp://www.endicott-studio.com/

Independent studio dedicated to the creation and support of mythic art.

Faerie Lands Forumhttp://www.ragnarokpress.com/faerie/This site is dedicated to the lore of Faerie, not particularly to the whimsical, popularized sprites of the common imagination, but to the strange and mysterious legends which lie beneath that friendly façade 

Interstitial Arts Foundation– http://www.interstitialarts.org/what/literary.html 

Mythopoeic Societyhttp://www.mythsoc.org/A non-profit international literary and educational organization for the study, discussion, and enjoyment of fantastic and mythic literature, 

SurlaLune

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/

SurLaLune Fairy Tales features 47 annotated fairy tales, including their histories, similar tales across cultures, modern interpretations and over 1,400 illustrations.  

The Labyrinth

http://labyrinth.georgetown.edu/

A huge World Wide Web server for Medieval Studies sponsored by

http://www.marketlist.com

Markets for genre writers

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database

http://library.tamu.edu/cushing/sffrd/default.asp

An online index to historical and critical items about science fiction, fantasy and horror

okay, we used to play detectives, write stories for our dolls and plan interspace adventures together. How cool is that?

Many thanks to the fine folks at Oakridge Borders in San Jose, CA who made me feel very welcomed at my recent book signing. And many thanks too, to all my “old” friends who showed up to greet me. It was a grand reunion!

This weekend, July 14th and 15th I’ll be signing books at Borders stores in San Jose. Sat I’ll be at Oakridge Mall at 1:00, and Sun 2:00 at Santanna Row. 

 I grew up in San Jose and it’s been a very long time since I visited. In fact, I was one of a rare breed, a California native, born in San Francisco, in a time when every one in CA came from some where else. I don’t think we ever escape the geography of our early years; we carry with it us. When I think of home I think of rolling hills with oak trees, the Santa Cruz Mountains, early fog drifting over the Palo Alto hills and the pocket beaches along Highway 1 between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. I remember that the true driving test for every south Bay Area teenager was making it over Highway 17 to the beach for the first time.

It will be nice to visit home. And don’t forget The Travelers’ Market contest. Come in and pick up an entry form.

 Mythopoeic writing is evocative. It speaks to our longings. What the best stories awaken in us is yearning and recognition, yearning for something “longer ago, further away or yet about to be,” recognition of something we have never met, but have always known. A perfect example is Sam’s response in The Return of the King…

“The beauty of it smote his heart…and hope returned to him….in the end the Shadow was only a small passing thing: there was light and high beauty forever beyond its reach.” 

Over the next few weeks I will be working on my upcoming presentation for Pacific Northwest Writers. It’s on mythopoeic writing. In other words, writing that involves elemnets of myth. Think of Susan Cooper, Jane Yolen, Neil Gaiman, C.S. Lewis and Tolkein. Think of Terri Windling and Midori Snyder of Endicott Studios. I’ll be sharing some of my muses here as I work my way through the topic.

Here’s a  start, a quote by Joesph Campbell posted on the Endicott website:

“Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or another. The function of the artist is the mythologization of the environment and the world.”

— Joseph Campbell

I’d love to hear any readers thoughts on writing the mythopoeic–musings, ruminations, places to publish, books to read. Chime in!

For those of you just waiting to find a fast and easy way to purchase Relentless Light, it is now available on Amazon.com. Just follow this link. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1599241234

It’s waiting for reviews:)