New moon on June 18, 2023
We welcome the Thunder Moon with a return to genre-based themes, this time, Magic Realism. That’s not a genre! It’s a style! OK; as you like it.
The genre grafts the otherworldly onto the mundane. The effects are wonderful. They may force us to think about our world in a new and interesting way. They may help the artist avoid cliché. They may provide cover to the artist wary of threats from authority. They may simply delight.
Although young, Magic Realism is popular across the globe. We’re big fans. The key to this puzzle of a genre is perhaps twofold. The realism must be grounded. London is a real place; Brigadoon is not. Macondo may not be a specific place, but it’s just as surely Colombia entire.
Secondly, the magic must go unexplained. In Kafka on the Shore, the old man Nakata can talk to cats. In Rushdie’s consequential work of 1988, Farishta and Chamcha fall 29,002 feet from an airplane explosion to land without great harm on an English beach. Take it, dear reader, for granted, and let’s see where the author takes us.
We hope this month’s prompts inspire you in your work!