Saturday, May 13, 2017

Mythical Prejudice (Poetry and Flash Fiction with Magaly)

I was leafing through The Book of Imaginary Beings, by Jorge Luis Borges and Margaret Guerrero, when a question danced into my mind: what sort of prejudice and discrimination might mythical creatures (like the Double, Doppelgänger, or other I) encounter, if they were citizens of today’s society? Would Satyrs be banished from polite company? Would Brownies be expected to work in sanitation, housekeeping, farming? I wonder, wonder, wonder…

…so, my beloved Toads, for today’s challenge, I invite you to write a 3-stanza poem or a very short story (313 words or fewer) that explores prejudice from the point of view of a mythical creature who is part of our modern world.

Follow this LINK, for a list of imaginary beings from Borges’ book. Feel free to choose any mythological creature you’ve ever read about or imagined. But please, add a note at the end of your contribution, telling us a bit about the creatures myth.

“The Double”, in The Book of Imaginary Beings,
written by Borges and Guerrero, translated by Andrew Hurley, illustrated by Peter Sis

Feed the direct link to your new poem or story to Mr. Linky.
Say hello to the mythical creatures poetized by your fellow Toads. 
And while you’re there, do your best to have a blast. 


16 comments:

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Love this prompt Magaly, and my mind is full of it! Much scribbling of ideas on paper. I'll be back!
Anna :o]

Anonymous said...

Magic prompt. Took quite a turn for me.

hyperCRYPTICal said...

I have really loved this prompt Magaly, inspired I was - so cheers!
Anna :o]

Magaly Guerrero said...

Oops! I apologize for posting the prompt early. I didn't mean to. Obviously, my mind was still on stuck on April dailies... *sigh*

Magaly Guerrero said...

@Anna, I'm really excited to see what your mind has sprouted. It sounds like you had a lot of fun with it, and that makes me very happy! :-)

@Paul, Can't wait to see your turn. *giggles*

brudberg said...

I loved this and combined it with Izy's prompt... I feel sorry both for both chimeras and minotaurs

Magaly Guerrero said...

@Bjorn, And I truly adore that you made them companions. Loneliness won't know what hit it.

Anonymous said...

Happy Mothers' Day

Gillena Cox said...

Today's prompt - Another of my favourites

Happy mothers day to all mothers, have a lovely day tommorow

much love...

Petru J Viljoen said...

Magaly, I see the Book of Imaginary Beings were co-written by a Margaret Guerrero. Family of yours? I saw this prompt only today and am much interested and yet think I'll use this for something else entirely - a short story I'm working on for Short Story Day Africa, in fact.

Magaly Guerrero said...

Echoing Martin's and Gillena's Mother's Day wishes for everyone who celebrates it today.

@Gillena, I am so glad you enjoyed the prompt.

@Petru, thanks so much for the nudge about the coauthor. I can't believe I left Margaret Guerrero out. In fact, I've been leaving he name out of the authorship of this book for ages (the embarrassment!). We aren't kin that I know of, but how fun to share the name with another. ;-) Happy writing!

hedgewitch said...

Really a wonderful concept for a challenge Magaly. I seem totally unable to write lately, but you never know. If lightning strikes I shall return.

Magaly Guerrero said...

Dearest Hedgewitch, I do hope the muse shows up full of ink and telling!

Margaret said...

My poem leans towards more "bias" than prejudice - hope I didn't break the rules too much...

Magaly Guerrero said...

I think your poem was perfectly lovely, Margaret. I still have a grin on my face and an nod in my heart. :-)

Jim said...

Nice prompt, Magaly. I got to reminis with a couple of old friends. I made an error in my post but I was given only five minutes to fix it, put my picture on, and register with Mr Linky. I gave up the correction and barely finished before my time ran out.
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