Blackberry winter is a colloquial expression used in south, midwest North America; as well as in Europe, SinosphereVietnam and East Asia, referring to a cold snap that often occurs in late spring when the blackberries are in bloom. Other colloquial names for spring cold snaps include "dogwood winter," "whippoorwill winter," "locust winter," and "redbud winter." The different names are based on what is blooming in particular regions during the typical spring cold snaps.[1][2] Another colloquialism for these spring cold snaps is "linsey-woolsey britches winter," referring to a type of winter long underwear which could be put away after the last cold snap. The blackberry winter term may have arisen to describe the belief that a spring cold snap helps the blackberry canes to start growing.[3]
"These unseasonal cold spells provide a mirror image of 'Indian summer' and likewise have a sequence of folk names derived from the blossoms scattered by these northern fronts; daffodil winter in April, dogwood winter in May, blackberry winter in June when the blackberry bushes are white with delicate blossoms." — Literary critic Joseph R. Millichap in Robert Penn Warren: A Study of the Short Fiction (1992)[4]
In East Asia and Vietnam, the blackberry winter is known as Miss Ban's Winter (Chinese:小班冷, Vietnamese: Rét Nàng Bân, Korean: 꽃샘추위), as it associated with an ancient folk tale of Miss Ban, a young daughter of the Jade Emperor who is hard-working but clumsy. She marries a husband, who is also a god, with the hope that she could improve her housework skills. In the winter, she dedicates herself to tailor clothes for her husband, but her clumsiness results in her being unable to finish the job until the end of winter. When she finishes, March has already gone by; thus she misses the winter. She falls down crying, and the Jade Emperor, touched by her will, decides to return the cold for a week to allow her husband to wear the clothes of Miss Ban. Thus, this is known as Miss Ban's Winter.[5]
Spring and winter meeting
In rural England, the equivalent term is "blackthorn winter", so-called because the blackthorn in hedgerows blossoms in early April, preceding the leaves, and presents an intense white spray against the black branches of the bush. In Finland, where the phenomenon is incredibly common – even in the month of May – the expression to describe it "takatalvi" (lit: back winter; most likely from the word takaisin 'come back', as in "returning winter") is part of common parlance.
In media
"Blackberry Winter" is the name of a frequently anthologized short story from 1946 by Robert Penn Warren. It is also the name of a song written by Edith Lindeman and Carl Stutz. This became a back-door million-seller as the B-side of Mitch Miller's recording of The Yellow Rose of Texas, a number 1 hit in the U.S. in 1955. It is also the name of a well-reviewed[6] (if not major) classical/symphonic work[7] by composer Conni Ellisor, and a well-reviewed[8] ballet[9] based on this composition. It is also the name of a song by Alec Wilder and Loonis McGlohon.[10]
Blackberry Winter is also the name of a 2006 short film directed by Brent Stewart about a cannibal clown in the antebellum South. Blackberry Winter is also the title of the autobiography (1972) of anthropologist Margaret Mead.
Robert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935. He received the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel for All the King's Men (1946) and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1958 and 1979. He is the only person to have won Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and poetry.
Cornus is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods or cornels, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and some species are evergreen. Several species have small heads of inconspicuous flowers surrounded by an involucre of large, typically white petal-like bracts, while others have more open clusters of petal-bearing flowers. The various species of dogwood are native throughout much of temperate and boreal Eurasia and North America, with China, Japan, and the southeastern United States being particularly rich in native species.
Anna Sokolow was an American dancer and choreographer. Sokolow's work is known for its social justice focus and theatricality. Throughout her career, Sokolow supported of the development of modern dance around the world, including in Mexico and Israel.
Mrs. Warren's Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893, and first performed in London in 1902. It is one of the three plays Shaw published as Plays Unpleasant in 1898, alongside The Philanderer and Widowers' Houses. The play is about a former prostitute, now a madam, who attempts to come to terms with her disapproving daughter. It is a problem play, offering social commentary to illustrate the idea that the act of prostitution was not caused by moral failure but by economic necessity. Elements of the play were borrowed from Shaw's 1882 novel Cashel Byron's Profession, about a man who becomes a boxer due to limited employment opportunities.
Baba Marta is the name of a Bulgarian mythical figure who brings with her the end of the cold winter and the beginning of the spring. Her holiday of the same name is celebrated in Bulgaria on March 1 with the exchange and wearing of martenitsi. Baba Marta folklore is also present in southeastern Serbia, namely in the municipalities of Bosilegrad and Dimitrovgrad, where there is a majority ethnic Bulgarian population living there. This is done as a reference as to a freezing weather change after a spring break. The Romanian holiday Mărțișor is related to Baba Marta.
Dame Monica Margaret Mason is a former ballet dancer, teacher, and director of The Royal Ballet. In more than a half-century with the company, she established a reputation as a versatile performer, a skilled rehearsal director, and a capable administrator.
Best Friends is a children's novel by Jacqueline Wilson, first published in 2004.
Northern Ballet, formerly Northern Ballet Theatre, is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a strong repertoire in theatrical dance productions where the emphasis is on story telling as well as classical ballet. The company tours widely across the United Kingdom.
Strawberry Shortcake is an American children's direct-to-video animated series produced by DIC Entertainment Corporation and American Greetings based on the franchise of the same name that debuted in March 2003. The series consists of 45 episodes, plus one short and one movie. Part of the series was broadcast on television including by CBS, HBO, and HBO Family, and in broadcast syndication. None of the voice actors from the 1980s Strawberry Shortcake animated specials returned to reprise their roles, with producers instead opting for younger and lesser known voice actors.
Valerie Elizabeth Bettis was an American modern dancer and choreographer. She found success in musical theatre, ballet and as a solo dancer.
Sarah Lane is an American ballet dancer who was a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT). She served as a "dance double" for Natalie Portman in the 2010 film Black Swan.
Ann Marie DeAngelo is an American choreographer, director, producer, teacher, consultant and former dancer - an expert in all areas of dance. She was leading ballerina with the Joffrey Ballet, where early on she was pegged by Time magazine as "one of America's most outstanding ballerinas" and where she later served as associate director at the time of the company's move to Chicago in 1995.
Geek Charming is a 2011 American teen comedy-drama film released as a Disney Channel Original Movie. It was directed by Jeffrey Hornaday from a screenplay by Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy, and based on the novel of the same name by Robin Palmer. The film stars Sarah Hyland and Matt Prokop. It premiered on November 11, 2011, on Disney Channel, on January 27, 2012, on Disney Channel, and on January 28, 2012, on Disney Channel Asia. The premiere was watched by 4.9 million viewers, the fifth largest number for a cable show of that week.
"Clumsy" is a song recorded by American singer Britney Spears for her ninth studio album, Glory (2016). It serves as the record's second promotional single, being released on August 11, 2016 for digital download and streaming by RCA Records and Sony Music. It was provided as an instant gratification track for those who pre-ordered Glory. "Clumsy" was written by Talay Riley, Warren "Oak" Felder and Alex Niceforo, while production was handled by Felder and Alex Nice; Mischke Butler served as a vocal producer.
Conni Ellisor is a contemporary American composer and violinist. She was trained at The Juilliard School and the University of Denver's University of Denver, Lamont School of Music, and rose to prominence as Composer-in-Residence of the Nashville Chamber Orchestra in the late 1990s. As a violinist, she has served as a member of the Denver Symphony, concertmaster of the Boulder Philharmonic, first violin in the Athena Quartet, and is now a top-call studio musician and member of the Nashville String Machine.
Frances Chung is a Canadian ballet dancer. She is currently a principal dancer at the San Francisco Ballet.
Amy Seiwert is an American contemporary ballet choreographer and artistic director. She is the founder and artistic director of Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, a contemporary ballet company in San Francisco.
Action Pack is an animated preschool television series developed by Shea Fontana for Netflix. Created by William Harper, the series premiered on January 4, 2022. A second season was released on June 6, 2022. A special, titled The Action Pack Saves Christmas, was released on November 28, 2022.
The Circus in the Attic and Other Stories is the only volume of short fiction by poet and novelist Robert Penn Warren. The collection, comprising two novellas and twelve short stories, was first published in 1947 by Harcourt Brace & Company.
"Blackberry Winter" is a work of short fiction by Robert Penn Warren first appearing as a chapbook offered by Cummington Press in 1946. The story was collected in The Circus in the Attic and Other Stories (1947), published by Harcourt Brace & Company.
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