Briana Corr Scott
Last Spring, Briana Corr Scott released
her debut literary effort, a children’s book titled She Dreams of Sable Island.
Following a young, female protagonist, the story explored the natural beauty of
Sable Island, an isle off the southeastern coast of Nova Scotia.
The tome was an instant success thanks to
both its poetic prose and alluring artwork. But this wasn’t your typical
children’s book; snug behind the story’s final page sat an old-school, impeccably
rendered paper doll kit.
Born and bred in Salem, Massachusetts, Corr
Scott knew that she wanted to be creative from the age of three.
“That is my oldest memory of it,” she
tells Arts East over the phone. “When I was little my mom would fold pieces of
paper in half and staple it like a book and I would write in it.”
In addition to authoring a book, Corr
Scott has also plied her trade as a professional artist for more than six
years.
“I make and sell paper doll kits for
children - another thing I loved to do when I was a kid. Making paper dolls
just struck that creative spark for me, and so I decided to incorporate them into
the book. When I sent my manuscript to the publisher, I included a paper doll.
They were thrilled. Writing the book was one of the biggest highlights of my
career.”
Corr Scott will release her follow-up
narrative, The Book of Selkie, this May. Although similar in style to its
predecessor, the author notes that this project draws inspiration from her
Irish heritage.
“My dad is from Belfast, and I have a lot
of Irish relatives on his side of the family. The first paper doll kit I ever
made was a Selkie paper doll. When I was in Massachusetts, my family lived in
this little beach community and I have memories of myself there during the
wintertime - walking around when the town was quite empty - and I would see the
seals come up on the beach. Seals have always a very special place in my heart
because of that. Then I read the Selkie stories in folklore and that really
inspired me.”
The Selkie story is an old Scottish
folktale that was popular across England, Ireland, and other countries
bordering the North Sea.
Half-woman, half-seal, the creature is compared
most frequently to her cousin, the mermaid.
“She becomes human and lives as such,”
Corr Scott explains. “In many stories, she goes onto have children. But then
she will leave the children and go back to the sea. Typically, the Selkie in
stories gets captured by a man, but in my version, there is no man involved and
she doesn’t get captured. It is a more subtle conflict about her being caught
between the land and the sea. It is not a direct retelling.
“I loved that idea of a selkie being
paper doll because she has a wardrobe inherently built into her story,” she
continues. “It is a story about someone being torn between two places, which is
something I can relate to as I immigrated to Canada from the U.S. and my family
is far away from me.”
She notes that the project required a
fair bit of research.
“I worked on it about a year, from start
to finish, but I feel like I have been researching this book since I made that
first paper doll. There was one book of stories called The Tales of the Sea
People by Duncan Williamson that was helpful. It is a collection of tales from
the Orkney islands and the coast of Scotland that were originally passed down through
word-of-mouth. I also did an art residency at the Burren of College of Art in
Ballyvaughan, which is in County Clare. I used a lot of visual impressions from
that area for scenes in the book.”
Corr Scott is already working on her next
creative project, alongside local author Taylor Widrig.
“It is called The Mermaids Handbook, and
I am illustrating it. In the book there are eight different profiles of Selkie
and mermaid creatures from around the world. It is interesting to see how all
these different places have a very similar story.
“I am also working on new manuscripts for
new books and illustrations for my small business, and exploring art and
animation inspired by my time in Ireland as well.”
