This book is more about its social impact than about its contents: It pushed off a law that effectively bans the sale of queer-positive books in Budapest. (No advertisement or open sale close to schools or churches, which covers basically the entire city).
From a Western point of view, the fairytale retellings collected here are nothing special: they put a marginalised twist on things, be it in a queer frame, or about poverty or parental neglect and alcoholism. It shows that the book means to showcase new and unexperienced authors: most of the texts are a bit clunky, clumsy, hitting you over the head with their intent. You can read a German excerpt here.
But hey: they’re sweet, and the cause is more than worthy of support. (Full disclosure: my mum was one of the German translators.)
It’s published in English as “A Fairytale for Everyone”.
This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.
