JOHN MATTHEWS
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John Matthews is an historian, folklorist and author. He has been a full time writer since 1980 and has produced over ninety books on the Arthurian Legends and Grail Studies, as well as short stories and a volume of poetry. He has devoted much of the past thirty years to the study of Arthurian Traditions and myth in general. His best known and most widely read works are ’ÄòPirates’Äô (Carlton/Atheneum), No 1 children’Äôs book on the New York Times Review best-seller list for 22 weeks in 2006, ’ÄòThe Grail, Quest for Eternal Life’Äô (Thames & Hudson, 1981) ’ÄòThe Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom’Äô (Element, 1994) and ’ÄòThe Winter Solstice’Äô (Quest Books, 1999) which won the Benjamin Franklin Award for that year. His book ’ÄòCeltic Warrior Chiefs’Äô was a New York Public Library recommended title for young people. |
John has been involved in a number of media projects, as an advisor and contributor, including an animated Arthurian TV series, a film about the magical defence of Britain during the 2nd World War, and The Real Merlin for Cannel 4 UK. In 2003 he was the historical advisor to the Jerry Bruckheimer movie King Arthur, and has made appearances on both History Channel and Discovery Channel specials on Arthur and the Holy Grail.
Much in demand as a speaker both in Europe and the USA, he has taught at (among others) the Temenos Academy in London, St Hilda's College, Oxford, and at the New York Open Centre, The Omega Centre, and the University of Seattle in Washington. He has also worked in collaboration with the Joseph Campbell Foundation and Lorian Association, with whom he continues to retain contact. Despite other commitments he manages to find time to continue his studies and is working on several new projects, including a series of Graphic novels on King Arthur and a top-secret project about faeries. He has just sold his first movie script and is currently developing several others He is married to the writer Caitlˆ‚n Matthews. Their son, Emrys, recently published his own first book, The Teen Oracle. The Matthews live in Oxford, England.
CAITLIN MATTHEWS
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Caitlˆ‚n Matthews is a writer, singer and teacher whose ground-breaking work has introduced many to the riches of our western spiritual heritage. She is acknowledged as a world authority on Celtic Wisdom, the Western Mysteries and the ancestral traditions of Britain and Europe.
She is the author of over 50 books including Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom, a study of Divine Feminine in Gnostic, Jewish and Christian thought and King Arthur’Äôs Raid on the Underworld, a new translation and study of the Welsh poet Taliesin’Äôs extraordinary poem, itself a major cross-roads of British mythology. |
Caitlˆ‚n was trained in the esoteric mystery traditions through the schools founded by Dion Fortune, Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and Gareth Knight. Her shamanic vocation emerged early in her ability to sing between the worlds and to embody spirits. She has worked in many of the western traditions with companions upon the path including R.J.Stewart. Like him, she teaches the many strands of the ancestral European traditions. She specializes in teaching traditional European spirit-consultation oracles where the diviner draws directly upon the spirits of nature for answers and in the use of the voice to sound the unseen. Caitlˆ‚n has been instrumental in revealing the ancestral heritage of the Western traditions through practical exploration of the mysteries as well as through scholarly research. Her teachings are couched in a firm historical and linguistic framework, with respect to the original context of the teachings, but never loses sight of the living traditions of these teachings which can be explored through direct application to their spiritual sources.
Trained as an actress, Caitlˆ‚n is in demand as a storyteller and singer. She appears frequently on international radio and television, and was the song-writer and Pictish language originator for the Jerry Bruckheimer film King Arthur. With John Matthews, her partner, who was historical consultant on the film, she shared in the 2004 BAFTA award given to Film Education for the best educational CD Rom: this project introduced school-children to the life and times of King Arthur. She and John are both concerned with the oral nature of storytelling and its ability to communicate the myth at a much deeper level than of the commercial booktrade. This is apparent in their forthcoming project, The Story Box. For Caitlˆ‚n, her books are merely the tip of a much bigger oral iceberg which is her teaching.
With her partner, John Matthews, and with Felicity Wombwell , she is co-founder of The Foundation for Inspirational and Oracular Studies, which is dedicated to the sacred arts that are not written down. Their Fˆ‚OS shamanic training programme teaches students the healing arts as well as hosting masterclasses with exemplars of living sacred traditions. Caitlˆ‚n has a shamanic practice in Oxford dedicated to addressing soul sickness and ancestral fragmentation, as well as helping clients find vocational and spiritual direction. Her soul-singing and embodiment uniquely bring the ancient healing traditions to everyday life. Caitlˆ‚n’Äôs other books include Singing the Soul Back Home, Mabon and the Guardians of Celtic Britain, The Psychic Protection Handbook, andCeltic Devotional. She is co-author, with John Matthews, of theEncyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom and Encyclopaedia of Celtic Myth and Legend. Her books have been translated into more than nineteen languages from Brazil to Japan. The author lives in Oxford with her husband and son in a kind of book-cave or library, whichever you will. They share their home with a white cat and a black cat.
BRIAN FROUD
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For over 30 years, Brian Froud has been regarded as the pre-eminent faerie artist in the world and an authority on faeries and faerie lore. His international best-selling book, FAERIES with fantasy and Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee is considered a modern classic.
His landmark work with Jim Henson as conceptual designer on feature films THE DARK CRYSTAL, LABYRINTH and other Henson projects set new standards for design, puppeteering and animatronics in film and are considered landmarks in the evolution of modern day special effects and attract an international cult following . |
With over 8 million books sold to date, Brian’Äôs international best sellers include LADY COTTINGTON’ÄôS PRESSED FAIRY BOOK, GOOD FAERIES / BAD FAERIES and THE FAERIES’Äô ORACLE and LADY COTTINGTON’ÄôS FAIRY ALBUM. Other works with text by Ari Berk include GOBLINS!, RUNES OF ELFLAND, LADY COTTINGTON PRESSED FAIRY LETTERS and BRIAN FROUD’ÄôS WORLD OF FAERIE. His latest book, THE HEART OF FAERIE ORACLE, is authored by his wife, Wendy and will be published by Abrams Books in March 2010.
Brian’Äôs work has been licensed by numerous licensing companies internationally. His work inspires Faerieworlds and FaerieCon, festival events that attract over 25,000 guests annually. Brian is currently creating concept designs for a sequel to THE DARK CRYSTAL, produced by the Jim Henson Company and developing a film with the Walt Disney Company based on his book, GOBLINS!’Äô His work has been featured in exhibitions throughout the world and his paintings reside in many private and public collections. Brian lives in Devon, England with his wife, internationally acclaimed doll maker Wendy Froud. The Official website of Brian & Wendy Froud is: www.worldoffroud.com
WENDY FROUD
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Wendy Froud has been a doll maker since the age of five. As soon as she could bend a pipe cleaner and tape bits of fabric together she began to make the kind of dolls she couldn't buy. Dolls of centaurs and satyrs, unicorns and faeries, all to populated her childhood world. She continues to do so to this day.
Wendy worked as sculptor and puppet builder for Jim Henson for many years, primarily on the films THE DARK CRYSTAL, LABYRINTH and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. She sculpted ’ÄúJen’Äù and ’ÄúKira’Äù for THE DARK CRYSTAL and fabricated ’ÄúYoda’Äù for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Other work for Jim Henson included THE MUPPET SHOW and THE MUPPET MOVIE. |
In addition to her film projects, Wendy has also made puppets for use in television commercials. Wendy’Äôs dolls and figures are highly sought after and are in many prestigious collections around the world. She now devotes most of her time to making dolls and figures for exhibition and sale throughout the US and England as well as teaching doll making workshops internationally. Her work has been featured in three books created with fantasy author Terri Windling: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’ÄôS FAERY TALE, THE WINTER CHILD and THE FAERIES OF SPRING COTTAGE. Reproductions of her dolls have been created by Sideshow Collectibles. Her first book, THE ART OF WENDY FROUD was published in 2006 by Imaginosis. Her latest book, THE HEART OF FAERIE ORACLE, will be published by Abrams Books in March 2010.
STEVE WINICK
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Stephen D. Winick is a folklorist, writer, editor, teacher, and singer, working at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. He studied medieval literature at Columbia University, and then earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Folklore at the University of Pennsylvania.His academic publications include articles on ballads, proverbs, and modern legends, as well as on Chaucer, Sir Gawain, and Robin Hood.
Steve is a veteran music writer, especially for Dirty Linen, the Magazine of Folk and World Music. He also writes about folklore, myth, and Tarot cards in publications that have included Philadelphia Weekly, National Geographic World, Realms of Fantasy, and Tarot World.
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Steve has taught folklore and literature at the University of Pennsylvania and George Mason University, has curated five successful exhibits of New Jersey folklife, and has lectured or moderated panels at such wide-ranging venues as the Library of Congress, The Folk Alliance, The New York Eisteddfod, The International Robin Hood Studies Association (Powys, Wales), La Grande Rencontre (Montreal, Canada), and FaerieCon.
As a singer, he performs with Ship’Äôs Company Chanteymen, in which he reenacts eighteenth and nineteenth century singing sailors, and with rock ensemble Jennifer Cutting’Äôs Ocean Orchestra. He has performed widely in Pennsylvania, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, at venues that include Silver Spring Swings, the Washington Christmas Revels, the Hampton Blackbeard Festival, the Maryland Faerie Festival, Mount Vernon Market Fair, the Globe Theater, Spoutwood Farm’Äôs May Day Faerie Festival, and the Potomac Celtic Festival.
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