Today is the birthday of J.R.R. Tolkien, creator of Dwarves and Elves and all of Middle-earth, who was born this day in 1892. You're invited to participate in The Tolkien Society's International Birthday Toast for 2017. Thank you, Professor, for your words!


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My heart and my thoughts are with my hometown of Tulsa and my next-door neighbor city of Charlotte today.


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I first met artist Jef Murray over a decade ago when we were both guests at the Tolkien event The Gathering of the Fellowship in Toronto. I most recently spent some wonderful time chatting with Jef and his lovely wife Lorraine last year when we were guests at A Long-Expected Party 3 in Kentucky. In between conventions and conferences, we kept in ( Read more... )

Christopher Lee's elegant and intelligent presence looms large in so many of the 'verses I love and study and research and teach: the Gothic, Holmesiana, Tolkieniana, Star Wars, etc. I'm handling the sad news today by imagining his *epic* reunion with his dear friend, Peter Cushing. Two one-of-a-kind gentlemen.

*moment of silence*


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Happy June, everyone!

Here are some calls for papers that may be of interest:
* Authorizing Tolkien: Questions of Adaptation, Control, Dissemination, & Transformation of Tolkien’s Works
* Collection on the Work of Alfred Hitchcock
* Studies in the Fantastic - On the Subject of Reboots
* In More's Footsteps: Utopia and Science Fiction
* "A ( Read more... )

* My friend Matthew Sanborn Smith (of the Beware the Hairy Mango podcast) has launched a new Kickstarter for his work-in-progress, Hive Five, which is a "weird and funny science fiction novel about five members of a hive mind who are not very good at being a hive mind." Matt's fiction has been published at Tor.com, Nature, and Chizine, among other ( Read more... )

Curtis Weyant, who is both an all-around terrific guy and my former graduate student, addresses Michael Moorcock's (in)famous "Epic Pooh" essay and its assertions about J.R.R. Tolkien's work in his latest blog post.

And now, here are the most important film scenes about Severus Snape - in chronological order. Watch this. For reasons.

Click to view

Today is the birthday of J.R.R. Tolkien, creator of Hobbits and Dwarves and Elves and all of Middle-earth, who was born this day in 1892. You're invited to participate in The Tolkien Society's International Birthday Toast for 2015!

Happy thirteenth birthday to The Shire's Virginia Lórien, a.k.a. Virginia, the world's most beautiful Boston terrier ( Read more... )

A Long-Expected Party 3 was a fantastic experience I'll never forget: reuniting with old friends and making new ones, enjoying brilliant music and costumes and food (enough to satisfy the most gluttonous hobbit!), and endless discussions with my colleagues and fellow attendees. I was delighted by the attendance and participation at my talks. The ( Read more... )