Ponderance

Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary Tolkien Event

While I'm usually loathe to repost CFPs (Call for Papers) in full in ye olde blog, I think this one is special. In 2005, for 50th anniversary of LoTR, there's going to be a conference-cum-convention (coinciding with Worldcon) in Birmingham. Better start saving now! Here's the details:

TOLKIEN 2005 : THE RING GOES EVER ON
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS

11-15 AUGUST 2005

ASTON UNIVERSITY, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, UK


FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS


To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings,
The Tolkien Society announces a major international conference and
convention combining scholarship, celebration and commemoration.

Tolkien 2005: The Ring Goes Ever On will be a worldwide gathering of
Tolkien readers and enthusiasts, students of Tolkien’s writings and
artists responding to those writings, performers, actors and adapters;
collectors and curators; bibliographers and philologists; established
academics, new researchers and creative writers; journalists, publishers,
biographers, commentators and film-makers. Tolkien 2005 will represent
one of the first large-scale international gatherings of Tolkien readers
to meet in the wake of the completion of Peter Jackson’s screen versions
of The Lord of the Rings and will endeavour to reflect this in its range
of activities and interests.

The conference organisers now announce a first call for papers. Lectures,
seminars and panel presentations are invited on all aspects of the
writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. The conference encourages submissions
intended for a variety of audiences: academic and literary critical
contributions are welcome, as are responses aimed more broadly at the wide
diversity of Tolkien readers and filmgoers. Contributions should combine
sound scholarship with accessibility.

Emerging conference themes include:

* Art and Illustration
* Authors responding to Tolkien
* Dramatisation and film adaptation
* Publication histories
* Translation
* Philology and The Languages of Middle-earth
* Ecology and Environment
* Ethics, Power and Conflict
* Tolkien and War
* Popularity and the legacy of Tolkien
* Gender and identity
* Myth, Fantasy and Romance patterns
* Characterisation and narrative
* The Inklings
* Tolkien on the Internet
* Tolkien and recent fantasy literature
* Tolkien in literary theory and cultural studies

Expressions of interest and proposals should be sent (no deadline) to

Dr Bob Davis
University of Glasgow
St Andrew’s Building
11 Eldon Street
GLASGOW
United Kingdom
G3 6NH
2005.programme@tolkiensociety.org

Further information may be found at

http://www.tolkiensociety.org/2005/