From Susan B. Anthony to Sleeping Beauty

I was excited to be invited to speak about my book, Waking Beauty, as part of the new Pages at the Prop series. But I was more excited when I discovered the Indianapolis Propylaeum’s connection to Indiana women’s right leader, May Wright Sewall.

May Wright Sewall

The early suffragist hung out with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and my personal heroine, Susan B. Anthony. When I heard that, I just had to figure out a way to connect these two seemingly opposing topics in my talk that evening. So after lots of gleeful brainstorming, I decided on:

From Susan B. Anthony to Sleeping Beauty:
A Feminist Perspective on How Interpreting History is Like Writing Fantasy

Wednesday, Sept 23

6:30-9pm

Indianapolis Propylaeum

1410 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202

The evening will include:

◾A Mix and Mingle evening with a presentation and book signing by author
◾Hors D’oeuvres, Sweet Treats, & Wine /Soft Drinks will be served by MBP Distinctive Catering.
◾Tickets are $20 and available through EventBrite: PagesattheProp.eventbrite.com or the Propylaeum Main Office 317.638.7881, option #5.
◾Pre-sale copies of Waking Beauty may be purchased for $15.00 at the Indianapolis Propylaeum Main Office at 1410 N. Delaware Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202.

Here’s my official blurb:

Sarah E. Morin lives two lives. By day she is the Youth Experience Manager at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, living in a world based in fact. By night she is the author of Waking Beauty and other unruly fairy tales, living in a world based in fiction. But are the two pursuits so different? And how did the high school girl who wrote a musical about suffragist Susan B. Anthony wind up years later writing a novel about Sleeping Beauty, the most passive fairy tale heroine of all? Is it possible to connect these diverse interests without betraying ideals? You decide!

To flesh this out, a lot of people think Sleeping Beauty is my favorite fairy tale because I wrote a book about it. It’s not! I wrote the book to FIX the fairy tale. Sleeping Beauty is in reality so dull a story it puts its own main character to sleep. I could never connect to her as a kid because she is so passive. In my high school years, I learned to admire bold and active leaders like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth. So one of the great challenges in attacking the story of Sleeping Beauty some years later was trying to identity with a passive character. What makes her so passive? Is she secretly a superhero in her dreams? And how by the end of the book can I turn her into the active, adventurous kind of heroine I prefer?

Find out when you come to Pages at the Prop!

Sarah E. Morin

Unruly Fairy Tales and Poems

From Susan B. Anthony to Sleeping Beauty