HISTORY
Fellowship & Fairydust (F&F) is a literary magazine inspiring faith and creativity and exploring the arts through a spiritual lens. We follow in the footsteps of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, George MacDonald and others who combined their Christian sacramental imagination with a love of storytelling. We also branch out into other storytelling traditions from around the world to cultivate intercultural and interreligious understanding. We accept submissions of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and prose, as well as artwork and photography.
Our literary journey began over a decade ago, when a newsletter entitled Ink & Fairydust was released by young Christian fans of Regina Doman’s Fairy Tale Novels in 2008. Later, in 2012, a bi-monthly magazine entitled Expressions was released by a collection of aspiring Catholic writers who eventually re-christened their enterprise The Fellowship of The King, in honor of the fantasy works and Catholic spirituality of J.R.R. Tolkien. Finally, in 2017, Fellowship & Fairydust came into being when The Fellowship of the King merged with Ink & Fairydust, not only to satisfy a demand in the Christian publishing world by exploring the arts through a spiritual lens, but also to break new ground by offering a platform for ecumenical and interfaith discussions via creative mediums.
MISSION STATEMENT
Literature worthy of the name is ultimately an appeal to the transcendent. Stories can be a glimpse of the eternal, and here at Fellowship & Fairydust, we believe stories are worth being told. As Madeleine L’Engle said: “Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.”
We invite our readers to immerse themselves in tales that traverse darkness into light and kindle sparks of hope even when all other lights have gone out. As JRR Tolkien wrote: “The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.”
We strive to exercise the precious gift of sub-creation, bringing ideas into reality and revealing the artistic nature of every soul. Pope St. John Paul II summed this up: “None can sense more deeply than you artists, ingenious creators of beauty that you are, something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of creation looked upon the work of His hands.”
Our purpose is to combine the vital elements of faith and spirituality with art and creativity. We believe that our literary endeavors in their purest forms are an expression of the divine imagination working in us, through us. George MacDonald concurred: “In very truth, a wise imagination, which is the presence of the spirit of God, is the best guide that man or woman can have.”
Our medium is a space for authors to flourish in their chosen craft, becoming more authentically present to themselves and others through their works. As Thomas Merton remarked: “Many poets are not poets for the same reason that many religious men are not saints: they never succeed in being themselves.”
Whereas modern media and entertainment often pedal in little more than nihilism, we attempt to create works which reveal more clearly the image of God in all things. Invoking the spirit of St. Catherine of Sienna, “Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.”
Our culture implicitly educates us that “growing up” means leaving our sense of meaning behind. And yet it has also been said that what eludes the most educated minds can only be seen through the eyes of a child, or those with childlike hearts. G.K. Chesterton exulted: “Happy is he who still loves something he loved in the nursery: He has not been broken in two by time; he is not two men, but one, and he has saved not only his soul but his life.”
We each have a calling to take part in redeeming these artistic modes that have all too often fallen into decay and illuminate the three transcendentals of Goodness, Truth and Beauty. As all things are made new in Christ, St. Hildegard of Bingen reflected, “The Word is living, being, spirit, all verdant greening, all creativity. This Word manifests itself in every creature.”
In this way, the artistic experience can be a sacramental experience that enables us to surrender our preconceptions and gain a fresh perspective of life. C.S. Lewis commented: “The first demand any work of art makes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way.”
To align oneself with the spirit of truth in our creative efforts is to enter into the flow of abundant life, making even our most mundane works bear fruit. As Imam Ali ibn abi Talib described it, “Truth means conformity of speech with the Divine mode of working.“
It is this connective inspiration that often unites varied disciplines through the intrinsic desire to reach beyond ourselves and delve deeper into the mysteries of the interior life. As St. Thomas Aquinas noted, “Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of mythology and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in being great with wonder.”
Fellowship & Fairydust is a convergence of combined talent and inspiration, drawn from diverse traditions and walks of life, seeking to best submit our talents to the service the divine will. As St. Theresa of Avila stated, “God gave us faculties for our use…permit them to do their work until divinely called to something higher.”
Through our shared writings and artistry, we embark on a journey of discovery, revealing the hidden unity within diversity through sacramental imagination. To quote the Sufi poet Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Rumi: “In Your light I learn how to love. In Your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees You, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.”
CREDO
Fellowship & Fairydust is committed to a Christian ambassadorship to the world. We welcome all people of good will and wish to find in them the image of Christ that we have found in our own hearts. We seek to reassemble the divine fragments present in all ages and peoples, and by doing so, bring healing to the creation through the medium of storytelling and analysis of the liberal arts. We take inspiration from the three fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith: The Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Cross.
Trinity: One of the most essential meanings of the doctrine of the Trinity for us is that God is, was, and has always been a community of love. Even before we were made, God is a differentiated, dynamic, and complex oneness. He is never alone. In the economy of the Divine persons can be found a model of the fairness, equality, and mutual affection that we should strive for as human beings in our daily lives. Unity and diversity have already met and kissed before the foundation of the world, and in this ever-living reality, we can hope to someday reconcile the differences that divide us.
The Incarnation: God became Man, without loss of Himself or destruction of our own fundamental humanity. In this convergence, we can believe in confidence that the infinite and the finite that were tied together in Christ can be brought together in the mundane neighborly business of life. Jesus is the unity of opposites, and in His person, all truths, regardless of their origin in time and place, can find a spacious home. All that is necessary is for us, as followers of the Way, to imitate the generosity and impartiality of our Lord and God, seeking to become ever more closely bound to the mystery of the Word made flesh.
The Cross: Mankind has labored under the condition of sinful inclinations and actions since the dawn of our history. We believe that Christ’s Passion and Death on the Cross, culminating in His Resurrection from the tomb, unleashed the salvific graces necessary for us to be born anew and transformed into the children of God. The Paschal Mystery sets us on the road to divinization through the emptying of self, enabling our works to be portals of grace. This miracle of redemption enables us to see the possibility of rebirth in all areas of life, for nothing human is too wounded to be beyond this saving process. By viewing every truth and experience from the perspective of God’s unspeakable love for us, we seek to bring the spirit of the resurrected life to our exploration of art, philosophy, theology, and culture.
Fellowship & Fairydust 