According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, a fable is “a fictitious narrative or statement” and also “a narration intended to enforce a useful truth.” And so, for fables, within a falsehood lies a truth, which is reminiscent of Emily Dickinson’s classic line: “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.”
In the following exercise, this is how we will approach a truth—slant—using fabulism as the lens through which to create a poem. In “New Genres: Domestic Fabulism or Kansas with a Difference” (Electric Literature, 2014), Amber Sparks defined fabulism as “incorporate[ing] fantastical elements within a realistic setting — distinguishing it from fantasy, in which an entirely created world … is born.”
How do fantastical and realistic elements work together? Say you want to write about someone who is grieving and who experiences the loss of a loved one as a gaping emptiness. In a fabulist story, like Aimee Bender’s “Marzipan,” that character might wake up one morning to discover a hole in their abdomen, a perfectly formed absence through which they can reach their arm. This is grief as a literalized metaphor. Grief in a fabulist state.
The art to creating a compelling fabulist poem is finding that inventive imagery to provide an original angle on a commonplace theme. The fantastical slant should delight the reader, but without overwhelming the truth at hand. As with Bender’s fabulist grief, the fantasy or magic should feel natural. The fabled element acts as a sort of ambassador for the poem’s truth.
To create our fabulist (fable-inspired) poem, we will begin with impressions from a lived experience and add fantastical elements in a three-step process.
Writing Prompt
1. Think of a memory in which you felt fully present in the moment—a significant moment. What sounds, smells, sights, and emotions do you remember? Write free form about being in that moment.
2. Think of a creature, maybe mythical, or real, or half-human that somehow appeals to you. Imagine the creature finds itself in a moment of conflict, how would they interact with humans? Communicate? Emote? Use first person. Come up with at least five images or scenes, one of which is far-fetched.
3. Go back to the first moment, but sprout the wings, horns, fangs, tail or hooves of the creature you just created. Think about how this will alter or slant that moment, in terms of action, emotion, and sensory perception. Recreate the moment now as your fabulist creature. Aim for 10-14 lines.
Recommended Reading
- Ansel Elkins’s “The Girl with Antlers,” a poem from Blue Yodel (Yale University Press, 2015)
- Bianca Spriggs’s “How Swallowtails Become Dragons,” a poem from the chapbook of same title (Accents Publishing, 2011)
- Jennifer Givhan’s “A Woman Might Want to Fly, Away,” a poem (Crab Creek Review, Fall 2015)
- Fiolet & Wing: An Anthology of Domestic Fabulist Poetry (Liminal Books, 2019)
Additional Online Resources
- Webpage for Fiolet & Wing anthology with more examples and a teacher’s kit available (2019).
- Essay on using fabulist elements by Stacey Balkun (2016).
- Essay on fabulism by Helen Ivory (2015).
- Essay on domestic fabulism by Amber Sparks (2014).
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Catherine Moore is the author of Ulla! Ulla! and other collections. Winner of the Yemassee Fiction Prize and The Southeast Review’s Poetry Prize, her work appears in Tahoma Literary Review, Mid-American Review, Broad River Review and in various anthologies, including the juried Best Small Fictions. Twitter: @Catpoetic.