Tolkien 2005

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings the Tolkien Society is holding a conference and convention at Aston University in Birmingham (England) from 11 to 15 August 2005. The Guest list, to me, is a Who's Who in Tolkien Scholarship:

Patrick Curry - is the author of Defending Middle-earth: Tolkien, Myth and Modernity, which has just been re-issued in the US with a new Afterword.

Colin Duriez - is the author of The Inklings Handbook (with David Porter), Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Story of their Friendship, and A Field Guide to Narnia.

Verlyn Flieger - is a professor at Maryland University and author of Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World, Question of Time: JRR Tolkien's Road to Faerie and Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth (which was co-edited with Carl Hostetter).

John Garth - is the author of Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth (a fascinating book).

Alan Lee - is an artist who is known worldwide for his many Tolkien illustrations, including the 1992 edition of The Lord of the Rings. He was, with John Howe (who will also be a guest), one of the conceptual artists for the LotR film trilogy.

Tom Shippey - is a noted Tolkien scholar and professor of philology. He is the author of The Road to Middle-earth and J R R Tolkien: Author of the Century (both of which I own.)

Brian Sibley - in conjunction with Michael Bakewell, he adapted The Lord of the Rings for the acclaimed BBC Radio 4 's dramatisation. He is also author of The Lord of the Rings: Official Movie Guide and The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy.

In addition to these illustrious guests, there will be scholarly papers presented on a number of topics, including 'Tolkien in Fiction' by Colin Duriez, 'Footsteps of the Archetypes in the Legend of LotR and RotK: End of the Psychic Journey towards the Self' by Arash Javanbakht, 'Tolkien's Mythology' by Rae Ann Kumelos, 'Hope, Sacrifice, and Courage in LotR' by Nicole Topham and 'Frodo as Primal Hero/Sacrifice' by Constance G. Wagner, which all sound very interesting to me and rather makes me wish I had bought a lottery ticket today, or that I otherwise had the cost of the registration and accommodation...