Life as a Folklorist and Folklore Studies

Today I talked with Jack Zipes about a life in Folklore Studies, about some of his many publications, and about publishing fairy tales. 

Jack Zipes is Professor Emeritus of German at the University of Minnesota and has previously held professorships at New York University, the University of Munich, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Florida. In addition to his scholarly work, he is an active storyteller in public schools and has worked with children's theaters in France, Germany, Canada, and the United States. In 1997 he founded a storytelling and creative drama program, Neighborhood Bridges, in collaboration with the Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis that is still thriving in the elementary schools of the Twin Cities and in other cities of the United States. Most recently, in 2018, he founded a small publishing house called Little Mole and Honey Bear with the motto to unbury talented and neglected writers and illustrators of fairy-tale books from the interwar years 1919-1940 before he himself is buried.

Rachel Hopkin PhD is a UK born, US based folklorist and radio producer and is currently a PhD candidate at the Ohio State University.