Reading List Inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's Tales

Fiction inspired by Andersen's stories

Novels:

* The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf by Kathryn Davis: an extraordinary contemporary novel about fairy tales and opera
* The Snow Queen by Joan Vinge: a modern classic of the science fiction field
* The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey: a lyrical adult retelling of the tale set in the courts of old Japan
* The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr: a novel that brings the fairy tale to colonial and modern America
* Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier: a romantic fantasy novel, set in early Ireland, thematically linked to The Wild Swans
* The Snow Queen by Eileen Kernaghan: a gentle retelling that brings out the tale's subtle pagan and shamanic elements

Short stories:

* From Snow White, Blood Red: "The Snow Queen" by Patricia A. McKillip
* From Black Heart, Ivory Bones: "You, Little Match Girl" by Joyce Carol Oates
* From Black Swan, White Raven:
o "Sparks" by Gregory Frost (based on The Tinder Box) and
o "Steadfast" by Nancy Kress (based on The Steadfast Tin Soldier)
* From Silver Birch, Blood Moon: "The Sea Hag" by Melissa Lee Shaw (based on The Little Mermaid)
* From Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears:
o "The Real Princess" by Susan Palwick (based on The Princess and the Pea) and
o "Match Girl" by Anne Bishop
* From The Armless Maiden:
o "The Pangs of Love" by Jane Gardam (based on The Little Mermaid) and
o "The Chrysanthemum Robe" by Kara Dalkey (based on The Emperor's New Clothes)
* From Women of Wonder: "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" by Joan Vinge
* From Realms of Fantasy magazine, October 2002: "In the Witch's Garden" by Naomi Kritzer (based on The Snow Queen)

Poetry:

* The Snow Queen cycle of poems in Blood Pressure, by Sandra M.Gilbert

On-line poems in the Endicott Studio Coffeehouse:

* The Pea Princess by Colleen Mills and
* The Mermaid Sets the Record Straight by Debra Cash

Nonfiction about HC Andersen and his tales:

* Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller by Jackie Wullschlager
* Hans Christian Andersen: The Story of His Life and Work: 1805-75 by Elias Bredsdorff
* The Diaries of Hans Christian Andersen, translated and edited by Patricia L. Conroy and Sven L. Rossel
* Boys and Girls Forever: Children's Classics from Cinderella to Harry Potter by Alison Lurie
* The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen by Beth Wagner Brust
* "In a Trance of Self" by Deborah Eisenberg and "Ice, Snow, Glass" by A.S. Byatt: essays published in Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales, edited by Kate Bernheimer
* Thomas Gray in Copenhagen: In Which the Philopher Cat Meets the Ghost of Hans Christian Andersen by Philip J. Davis

Recommended HCAndersen Web sites:

* The Hans Christian Andersen Center: this Web site created by the University of Southern Denmark is a good portal to further Andersen information available on-line.
* Hans Christian Andersen: Homes & Manor Houses: an interesting Web site picturing various homes where Andersen lived.
* Hans Christian Andersen 2005, information on celebrations marking the author's 200th birthday in 2005.