The last few years have seen the publication of two of Tolkien’s works that scholars and serious fans have known about for a very long time: Tolkien’s unfinished alliterative poem The Fall of Arthur[i] and Tolkien’s prose translation of Beowulf…
Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy in the 2018 Mythopoeic Awards Finalists!
I have just found out that my latest monograph, Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), has been shortlisted for the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies! The Mythopoeic Awards are divided into four categories, two for fiction, and…
Forthcoming talks and lectures: Glasgow, Kalamazoo, Essex, Oxford and North Wales
The next few months are going to be a bit hectic! If you are attending any of the conferences or events below, don’t hesitate to come and say hello! 26-27 April – Keynote for GIFCon (Glasgow International Fantasy Conversations) 2018: ‘In the…
Ursula K. Le Guin: In Memoriam
I was saddened this morning to hear about the death of Ursula K. Le Guin, one of the giants of fantasy literature, and an author I have written about and taught for many years. I was asked to write a…
Alan Garner’s The Owl Service has its 50th anniversary today!
One of the books I’ve worked with very closely during the last few years is Alan Garner’s The Owl Service. Garner’s creative re-use of the tale of Lleu, Blodeuwedd, and Gronw from the Welsh Mabinogion made it a prime candidate…
George MacDonald and one of Tolkien’s most quotable lines
I’ve been re-reading many of the works of George MacDonald recently, in preparation for my keynote lecture at the George MacDonald’s Scotland conference at the University of Aberdeen next week (https://gmdscotland.wordpress.com/). My lecture is titled “George MacDonald and Celticity”, and…
Beren and Lúthien: Some First Thoughts (and radio interview)
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Beren and Lúthien, edited by Christopher Tolkien, was published yesterday. The book is an attempt by Christopher Tolkien to extract one of the most beautiful, moving, and personal stories of his father’s ‘legendarium’ into a standalone book, allowing the…
Tolkien and the Art of Book Reviewing: A Circuitous Road to Middle-earth
The Tolkien Society has just uploaded on YouTube my talk for Oxonmoot 2016, titled: “Tolkien and the Art of Book Reviewing: A Circuitous Road to Middle-earth”. I thought, therefore, that it would be a good idea to publish the text of…
How Social Media Has Helped my Research (or, the kindness of strangers!)
This is a title I never thought I’d write! But, having finished another book (submitted exactly a year ago today!) I’m in that reflective mood again, thinking back to some important moments and turning points. Researching and writing a monograph…
Literary Tourism: Wales, Land of Legends
Literature Wales (http://www.literaturewales.org/) launched today their new literary tourism website: Land of Legends – http://www.landoflegends.wales/. This was a project funded by Visit Wales (http://www.visitwales.com/) and I was delighted to have been one of the consultants on literary connections of specific…