Kate Forsyth
Kate Forsyth
Kate Forsyth is an Australian author. She is best known for her historical novel Bitter Greens, which interweaves a retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale with the true life story of the woman who first told the tale, the 17th century French writer Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force...
NationalityAustralian
ProfessionAuthor
CountryAustralia
absolutely attacked bit books quite salvation spent
I was attacked by a dog when I was a toddler, and my injuries were so bad, I spent quite a bit of my childhood in and out of hospital. Books were absolutely my salvation during those years.
asleep beauty boy break castle courage court curse fairy frogs girl haunting hide hundred love magical royal tales worlds
I love fairy tales because of their haunting beauty and magical strangeness. They are set in worlds where anything can happen. Frogs can be kings, a thicket of brambles can hide a castle where a royal court has lain asleep for a hundred years, a boy can outwit a giant, and a girl can break a curse with nothing but her courage and steadfastness.
disorder known life mention struggled
I have struggled all my life with my stuttering. Not to mention all my other speech impediments. I think I have every language disorder known to speech pathologists.
conversation deep eye highly mouth respected roll seen serious words
As an adult, I have often been deep in serious conversation with someone I've highly respected and seen them roll an eye as my mouth has mangled yet another magnificently conceived, clumsily articulated sentence. In my mind, the words are mellifluous as honey. In my mouth, they are shards of glass.
cannot imagination inhabiting totally unless
You cannot write a book unless it is totally inhabiting your imagination and you are totally engrossed with it. Which is a kind word for obsession.
giants metaphors witches
The ogres and witches and giants of fairytales stand in as metaphors for those obstacles that we all face in our own lives.
began carve existed humans press rocky shapes stones
Storytelling is as old as speech. It existed before humans first began to carve shapes in stones and press their hands upon the rocky walls of caves.
allow despite people stories
Stories are the common ground that allow people to connect, despite all our defences and all our differences.
bones built stories
Stories are like that. Like cities, they are built on the stones and bones of the past.
comfort copy fairy gave sick time
Once upon a time, I was a little girl sick in the hospital, and my mother gave me a copy of 'Grimm's Fairy Tales' to comfort me.
cautionary meant tales verge
Fairytales were never really meant for children; they were meant as cautionary tales for teenagers on the verge of growing up.
calls muscles nerves surprising thousands
Every word we speak calls on 37 muscles and thousands of nerves. It's not surprising that sometimes these nerves and muscles fail us.
running dog war
War is an unpredictable beast. Once unleashed, it runs like a rabid dog, ravening friend or foe alike. It can drag on for years, a slow attrition of nerve and fortitude, or be over in one brilliant flash, an extravagant conflagration of flame and blood and waste.
home night long
I had always been a great talker and teller of tales. 'You should put a lock on that tongue of yours. It's long enough and sharp enough to slit your own throat,' our guardian warned me, the night before I left home to go to the royal court at Versailles ... I just laughed. 'Don't you know a woman's tongue is her sword? You wouldn't want me to let my only weapon rust, would you?