Alternativni centar za devojke invites you to the promotion of the publication “Fairy Tales Are for Everyone,” which will be held at AKC Gnezdo (Živorada Stankovića bb), on Saturday, June 30, 2018, from 5 PM to 7 PM.
The publication “Fairy Tales Are for Everyone” was created as a result of youth work and exchange within the Erasmus+ program, involving participants from the former Yugoslavia region. Around twenty young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, and Serbia took part in educational seminars in Sarajevo and Budva, where they collaboratively worked on deconstructing and rewriting traditional, well-known fairy tales.
As is known, traditional fairy tales—and the phenomena and motifs that dominate them—do not reflect contemporary life or the needs of children and young people today. For this reason, we are witnessing a decline in reading and interest in fairy tales in general.
The stories in “Fairy Tales Are for Everyone” offer a modern perspective on the world of fairy tales. Instead of princesses, we find “ordinary girls”; heroes are not exclusively boys or men; and the lives of the characters are no longer governed by fairies or supernatural forces, but by their own choices and actions.
Since many traditional fairy tales were written in contexts that did not respect human rights, the fairy tales in this publication are based on the principles of respect and celebration of diversity. Groups and individuals who were marginalized or excluded in older tales are now given space, attention, and dignity.
At the promotion, the young authors will speak about their work: Vendi Kesarica (Croatia), Aleksandra Taseva (North Macedonia), Irma Rastoder (Montenegro), and Mirza Halilčević (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The event will be moderated by literature professor Sonja Antić, while Anita Dragosavac from Alternativni centar za devojke will also participate as the Erasmus+ coordinator in Serbia.
The project “Fairy Tales Are for Everyone” is supported by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union. The lead organization is the CURE Foundation, with partners including Juventas (Montenegro), CESI (Croatia), and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights – LezFem Group (North Macedonia), alongside Alternativni centar za devojke.
We hope you will find time to join us and honor the event with your presence.
