The Return of the Ring: Celebrating 75 Years of 'The Hobbit'

Loughborough University, 16th-20th August 2012

Call for Papers


J.R.R. Tolkien is an author who excites diverse critical response from both academia and non-academia. Although best known for The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and other tales of his Middle-earth 'legendarium', Tolkien's oeuvre extends to Anglo-Saxon studies (to which he contributed much as an academic), essays on fairy tales, poetry, children's tales and non Middle-earth fantasy.

In recent years academic interest in the fantasy genre has increased dramatically. Likewise fandom studies are developing as fan productions proliferate, particularly since Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.

'Return of the Ring' is a conference celebrating 75 Years of 'The Hobbit' which aims to bring together scholars and researchers from across the globe to share their expertise and interest in any Tolkien-related area of study such as linguistics, fantasy, literature, education, media & culture, fandom etc. Speakers include Tom Shippey, Martin Barker, Dimitra Fimi, John Garth, and Corey Olsen amongst others.

The conference will include several academic streams as well as other events and is run by The Tolkien Society, the long-established literary society devoted to the promotion and understanding of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

There will also be a gathering of musicians and artists inspired or influenced by Tolkien, and of those interested in any aspect of Tolkien and his work.

The Tolkien Society invites submissions of proposals for papers, panels, workshops, and posters. For more information about the programme, to submit abstracts or papers, or to discuss any aspect of your proposal, please contact Meggy McMurry at [email protected] by 11th November 2011. If you are organising a group of presentations, the group co-ordinator should contact Meggy directly before submitting the individual items.

We also invite applications for the Christine Davidson Memorial Lecture, for which the selected recipient will receive some financial assistance to attend the conference. If you wish to apply, please read the information about the award http://www.returnofthering.org/cdml.php and the criteria for entry.

Details of the full conference, 'Return of the Ring', including accommodation rates, are available at http://www.returnofthering.org