Category: Conferences

  • Tolkien Society Seminar 2017

    Where do the months fly by? June was busy, as I was preparing my talk for the Tolkien Society Seminar in Leeds while also putting the final touches on our family vacation itinerary in Europe — we were given a very special opportunity this year to travel to France, Italy, and Scotland, with a stop…

  • Tolkien sessions in Leeds, 2017

    The Tolkien meetings in Vermont, San Diego (the PCA/ACA), and Kalamazoo are now over and conference season is in full swing. Next stop, Leeds! The Tolkien Society Seminar is held one day before the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds, which also sponsors some Tolkien sessions. So, details about the Seminar first. I’m…

  • Tolkien Studies at PCA/ACA 2017

    It’s springtime, and that means that Tolkien conference season is picking up momentum. If you can’t attend the Tolkien in Vermont conference this weekend, then maybe California is closer or more convenient. The annual Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association conference will be held April 12-15 this year in San Diego, with the Tolkien Studies area…

  • Tolkien in Vermont 2017: Romance in Middle-earth

    The program for the 14th annual Tolkien in Vermont conference has been posted. This year’s theme is Romance in Middle-earth, and the keynote speaker is Corey Olsen. There’s a modest registration fee, except for University of Vermont students and high-school students, who get in free. This is a small and friendly conference where everyone —…

  • New symphony by Johan de Meij to premiere at 2018 Tolkien Conference

    Mark you calendars! November 1 – 4, 2018 is the date for a large, international Tolkien conference to be held at Valparaiso University in Indiana. Organizer Brad Eden has commissioned a new composition to be premiered at this conference by Johan de Meij, composer of Symphony #1 (Lord of the Rings), which he conducted during…

  • Kalamazoo: Tolkien Symposium and ICMS Conference

    The program for the  International Congress on Medieval Studies  is now online, and there are numerous sessions for those interested in Tolkien and medievalism.  I’ve copied these from the preview program; of course, you should read the final program to double check the accuracy of this list. The Congress has been cutting back the number…

  • New! Tolkien Symposium in Kalamazoo

    Something new is coming to Kalamazoo, the site of the annual International Congress on Medieval Studies, which usually includes a number of sessions related to Tolkien. Every year the Congress organizers have been whittling down the sessions sponsored by the Tolkien at Kalamazoo group (and others) so that what was once a conference with around…

  • Tolkien events in Leeds

    If you’re in the vicinity of Leeds, you can attend a number of Tolkien papers over the next few days.  On Sunday July 3, the Tolkien Society Seminar will take place in the Hilton Leeds City.  This one-day series of presentations focuses on the theme of Life, Death, and Immortality.  You can read the full…

  • Kzoo 2017 calls for Tolkien papers

    The approved sessions for Kalamazoo (the International Congress on Medieval Studies) have just been announced. In spite of very well attended sessions in the past and plenty of paper submissions, the Tolkien at Kalamazoo group has once again been reduced by the conference organizers, as have other groups attending the Congress.  For 2017, only two…

  • Tolkien’s King Sheave story

    I’m finding Tolkien’s Notion Club Papers* a fascinating and deep well of ideas. Last summer at the New York Tolkien Conference, I commented on the sub-creators who appear in the story; this year, for my conference presentation at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, I talked about another part of Notion Club, the embedded legend…