Congratulations to Noriko T. Reider, co-recipient of the 2021 Elli Köngäs-Maranda Prize from The American Folklore Society for a book that represents significant new work in women's or feminist folklore studies. The committee commends Mountain Witches: Yamauba, noting that "Mountain Witches examines this traditional Japanese supernatural figure in all of her glorious historical, cultural, and contemporary contexts. Reider’s meticulous scholarship sheds light on the various ways in which the highly-ambivalent Yamauba represents ideas of childbirth, aging, cannibalism, weaving, dementia, abandonment, and fortune-telling to name a few. It is a must-read for anyone interested in folkloristic articulations of feminine principles."
