The Calendar Custom and Contemporary Fiction

How could, or even should, a writer approach intangible cultural heritage such as the calendar custom in their creative work?

This talk is based on Sophie Parkes-Nield’s doctoral research that examines the role and impact of the calendar custom in contemporary fiction. In it, Sophie will appraise examples of contemporary fiction in which a calendar custom is represented, and reflect on her own practice of writing a novel in which a calendar custom is situated at its heart.

She will discuss concepts such as the carnivalesque and the folkloresque to understand how fiction like this may be better understood, and posits whether the calendar custom as ‘the final ritual’ (Bayman & Donnelly, 2023, p. 15) is in danger of being typecast as strange, dangerous – even bloodthirsty.

Finally, she will conclude with a series of provocations for writers intending to work creatively with the calendar custom, to encourage writers to…