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| April 24, 2024 |
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General News: Local Writer in Residence Spins Fantasies
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| Carolyn Turgeon. |
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| Turgeon's second novel was published in March 2009. |
June 17, 2009
A writer of fantasy has taken up residence in Cornwall-on-Hudson, where she spins tales set in a fantasy world of fairies, princesses, and mermaids. Carolyn Turgeon, a writer-in-residence at The Grail Center, explained in a recent interview how her lifelong interest in writing has landed her publishing opportunities that many writers still dream of attaining.
Turgeon, who wears a tattoo of the mythic nymph Daphne on her upper arm, is a lover of fantasy and creativity, two themes that have fueled her writing since she was a child. Her books are not for children, however, but have adult themes that emerge as the fantasy characters reveal a human dimension and experience love, loss, and wrenching grief.
Now busy finishing the manuscript for her third novel, Turgeon will read excerpts of her work and discuss her writing in a special presentation at the Cornwall Public Library on Tuesday, June 23 at 6:30 p.m. Her third book, a re-telling of the tale of The Little Mermaid, is scheduled for publication next year. The contract for that book came quickly on the heels of her second book, released just three months ago, which was inspired by the story of Cinderella as seen through the eyes of the fairy godmother.
Turgeon says that she started writing Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story five years ago thinking that she would do a simple re-telling of that classic tale. As she worked on her ideas and got feedback from other writers, her fairy godmother took on more human dimensions -- envy, longing and passion -- that ultimately complicate her role as the purveyor of happiness to the struggling Cinderella who wants to get to the prince’s ball.
Turgeon explains that her third book takes the original Hans Christen Anderson story of The Little Mermaid, itself quite removed from the cheery tale animated by Disney, and meshes the beautiful images of the mermaid emerging from the sea with a psychologically complex web of relationships that involve, of course, a prince.
“My books are like magic realism, with fairies flying around,” she said, “”but with a human element that makes the magic more realistic.”
Turgeon says that she quit her full-time job as a technical writer in New York City last summer to concentrate on her novel writing, returning first to her family’s home in Pennsylvania before settling in this spring at The Grail. She joins two other women there who are part of a larger One Stone Collective art group. The One Stone Collective is having its own installation of work starting June 27th at The Grail and Turgeon collaborated with an artist in Texas to create one of the pieces in the show.
Once she hands in her manuscript at the end of July, Turgeon plans to hit the road again, traveling to a festival in Oregon to promote her book then flying off to spend a few months in an apartment in Germany. She says she hopes to return to The Grail next winter to nurture her connection to the women in the One Stone Collective and to find the solitude to write.
(Find out more about Carolyn Turgeon at her website, www.CarolynTurgeon.com)
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