The J. R. R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature is a free public lecture delivered annually at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...

. The series was founded by Pembroke postgraduate students Will Badger and Gabriel Schenk in memory of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

, who was

Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon The Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, until 1916 known as the Rawlinsonian Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, was established by Richard Rawlinson of St John's College, Oxford, in 1795. The Chair is associated with Pembroke College ...

at Pembroke from 1925 until 1945. During this time he wrote ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...

'' and the majority of ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

''. The aim of the lecture series is to stimulate more serious study of fantasy literature at Oxford University and beyond. The lecture can be on any subject dealing with fantasy, science fiction, horror, or related speculative genres. The Pembroke College Middle Common Room announced the series in 2012, and the first lecture was delivered on 18 January 2013 by fantasy writer

Kij Johnson Kij Johnson (; born Katherine Irenae Johnson January 20, 1960 in Harlan, Iowa) is an American writer of fantasy. She is a faculty member at the University of Kansas. Life and career Kij Johnson was born in Harlan, Iowa. She received her BA ...

. R. F. Kuang was scheduled to deliver the eighth-annual lecture in April 2020, but because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, her lecture was postponed. On 16 May 2020, in lieu of a lecture, past speakers

, Adam Roberts,

Lev Grossman Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist who wrote ''The Magicians Trilogy'': '' The Magicians'' (2009), '' The Magician King'' (2011), and '' The Magician's Land'' (2014). He was the book critic and lead technolo ...

Terri Windling Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958, in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram St ...

, and Victoria 'V.E.' Schwab joined forthcoming lecturer Kuang for an online symposium o
'Fantasy in Times of Crisis'
The organizers invited donations to the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

' emergency fund to support British writers whose livelihoods had been affected by the pandemic.

Guy Gavriel Kay Guy Gavriel Kay (born November 7, 1954) is a Canadian writer of fantasy fiction. The majority of his novels take place in fictional settings that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Ju ...

delivered the 2021 lecture on 11 May. It was held digitally via

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Zoom'' (2006 film), starring Tim Allen * ''Zoom'' (2015 film), a Canada-Brazil film by Pedro Morelli * ''Zoom'' (2016 Kannada film), a Kannada film * ''Zoom'' (2016 Sinhala film), a Sr ...

and streamed live to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. In 2022, the Tolkien Lecture was held in person again, with R. F. Kuang delivering the lecture at Pembroke on 23 May. Science Fiction critic, writer, and publisher

Cheryl Morgan Cheryl Morgan is a British science fiction critic and publisher. She has won Hugo Awards for her work on the fanzine ''Emerald City'' from 1995 to 2006, and as non-fiction editor of ''Clarkesworld'' magazine from 2009 to 2011. Morgan was the f ...

regularly blogs about the lecture series on her website. Fantasy author Juliet E. McKenna has also written about the series.Juliet E. McKenna
Interesting things of the week; thoughts on Tolkien, writing careers and gender stereotypes
27 May 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2017.

History

References

External links

Official Website

Press Release for the launch of the series

Pembroke College, Oxford, Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:J. R. R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature, The

Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

Tolkien studies Science fiction studies Speculative fiction Annual events in England Recurring events established in 2013 Pembroke College, Oxford 2013 establishments in England