Shape shifting fairies, a child-eating witch and a pagan legend; all are a world away from life at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU). But that hasn’t stopped one member of staff from releasing a book about them.
‘A Cynical American’s Guide to British Myth’, released later this year, has been written by Ann Kenney, a Student Support Administrator in the Faculty of Business and Law.
Ann, who is based in Hugh Aston’s Student Advice Centre, said: “I have written a few books, some unfinished, but this is the first one to be published. Fantasy is my favourite subject matter and it’s certainly a bit different to working in the Student Advice Centre!
“We deal with everything here. It’s like a one stop shop and we take in coursework, hand out assignments, help distressed students, talk to happy students plus everything in between. I will have worked here for ten years this November.
“I write in my spare time and would dearly love to be a full time writer, though that said I definitely find the process a kind of release. Being fantasy stories they are a real escape from everyday life.”
The book follows the fictional journey of Jensen, a cynical American man, who comes to Britain to debunk popular myths. He meets up with a teacher, Lydia, and the two travel around the country to find out more about local legends and myths.
The story starts extremely close to home. “The book starts in Leicester at Rupert’s Gateway with Black Annis,” Ann explains. “She is said to have her home within the hills around the city and she is a child-eating witch.
“Then the plot takes them to Derbyshire and the Legend of the White Worm, and then to Cottingley near Bradford to see the Cottingley Fairies, which were made famous by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
“After that they head to Glastonbury in Somerset, to the Tor and to find out about the Legend of the Green Man. He is a Pagan symbol – so quite timely at this time of the year with the Summer solstice – and they believed he had natural qualities. Then it’s on to see some shape shifting fairies that turn into seals called Selkies.”
The book, as Ann explains, has been years in the making. “The myth side of it is something I’ve always been interested in,” she says.
“I started writing about Black Annis, and once you get into it you start to get into a rhythm. Before finishing that book I started one about the White Worm and before long I had three unfinished books and my husband said I should do something with them, so I brought them together as short stories in this book, all brought together by the journey of Lydia and Jensen.”
‘A Cynical American’s Guide to British Myth’ is available on Kindle and other eReaders now.
Posted on Wednesday 16 September 2015