2012 Fairie Chautauqua Presenters

Please see the schedule for presentation times.


ARI BERK is an award-winning writer and professor of folklore and mythology at Central Michigan University. He is the author of numerous books for children and adults including The Runes of Elfland (illustrated by Brian Froud) and most recently, The Secret History of Giants and The Secret History of Mermaids.




KERRIDWYN is a longtime member of the Spoutwood Family, and for many years has run the Treasure Hunt for children. She is also a longtime fitness and yoga instructor, bellydancer, and coordinates a "heartlight aerobics" after-school program.

HAYLEY JANE is a performance artist and costumer based out of Detroit, but she is also America's only faerie make-up artist! She has a wildy popular YouTube channel with fantasy make-up tutorials. Fascinated by color and myth from a very young age, she is happy to help her fellow fae add extra pizazz to their costumes!

JANA LAIZ writes stories, poems, journals and essays, and books, including the "The Twelfth Stone." This new book is a Celtic American fantasy, adventure, romance and cautionary faerie tale for young
adults & adults. Led by Fiona and Rionnag, the cast of characters runs the gamut from evil faeries to captured mortals, from destructive developers to secret lovers who meet only when the borders between the worlds open.

NICOLE PISANIELLO is an illustrator, sculptor, costumer, actress, model, film artist, history nerd, animal lover, and a follower of the Fae! She has been on the Mythic Arts scene since 2006, and has been a proud participant of the Spoutwood Fairie Festival in one capacity or another for ten years. Her work appears in Myrea Pettit's '500 Fairy Motifs' and Linda Ravenscroft's 'How to Draw and Paint Fairyland', and can also be found online at www.deramis.com. In the past year she has been studying Corvids in art and myth, and working with them as animal guides.

SOFEYA PUFFINS, aka, Cynthia of Magic Moonshadows Stained Glass, is an artist, singer/songwriter, bardic storyteller, and fey enchantress. She has studied the mercurial magical arts, and has been participating in, and cocreating festivals and events, for more than 15 years throughout the northeast. Currently, she is working on illustrating her first childrens book and laying tracks for her CD and ebook. For stained glass, www.magicmoonshadows.com

CAROLYN TURGEON Carolyn Turgeon is an author whose most recent works include Mermaids, and more recently , The Next Full Moon. Carolyn is a world traveler and adventurer, capturing the flavor and essence of distant places. Carolyn is the Editor in Chief of Mermaids, a Gwynn Oak Studios (Faerie Magazine) production, that will be available at Spoutwood.

 

TWIG Twig Oaklyn Flewinia Thistlebottom was first sighted at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in 2003. In an exclusive interview using today's leading fae linguists, we are able to give you a rare glimpse at the journey she has made from that first apparition. When children see Twig, they are often struck with a sense of awe, wonder, and perhaps a bit of shyness.We were surprised to find that this is exactly how Twig feels when meeting us.The human imagination is a marvel to her. To see what dreams they bring to life, is her most rewarding pursuit.

STEPHEN D. WINICK is a folklorist, writer, teacher, and singer, and works as the editor for the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. He is an expert on folk music and folksong, with hundreds of published articles to his credit, in both academic journals and music magazines. He sings with Jennifer Cutting's OCEAN orchestra and with the Ship's Company Chanteymen, and has appeared at the Maryland Faerie Festival, FaerieCon, and RenCon, in addition to Spoutwood. This year he is the Master of Ceremonies for Spoutwood Farm's May Day Faerie Festival.


ROB AND LUCY WOOD felt compelled in the early 1980s to move to the country and grow plants and reconnect with nature more directly. Since the beginning in 1983, Spoutwood Farm has been about "growing plants and people." First, with herbs and flowers. Now, with a thriving Community Supportive Agriculture (CSA) project. In 1991 Rob and Lucy started the "May Day Fairie Festival," which has grown into the largest in the country The purpose of the festival is to celebrate Nature and the Land in high spring, especially its creative and imaginative aspects, reviving an essential ancient human practice. The Festival is a community-based volunteer organization, requiring literally hundreds of volunteers to organize and run it. Four years ago (2004), the Farm added a "Mother Earth Harvest Fair".