​​Full speaker list will be announced on Monday 30th September 2024, and we will be opening registration then too!

This November marks 100 years since the birth of Christopher Tolkien. We owe Christopher a monumental debt for his achievement in bringing so much of his father’s writings to the world and we very much hope this event will serve as a way for our community to honour and remember his life and works.

Announcing our Speakers

We will be joined by some of the best authors, scholars and artists in the Tolkien community to honour Christopher Tolkien and his legacy.

Confirmed speakers (in alphabetical order):

• Douglas A. Anderson — editor of The Annotated Hobbit
• Nicholas Birns — author of The Literary Role of History in the Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien
• Denis Bridoux — independent Tolkien scholar specialising in Tolkien’s artwork and heraldic devices
• Sara Brown — lecturer on Tolkien, and Language and Literature Department Chair at Signum University
• Sonali Chunodkar — researcher on secondary beliefs in Tolkien's works
• Michael D. C. Drout — editor of Beowulf and the Critics, and J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia; co-editor of Tolkien Studies
• Vincent Ferré — Tolkien scholar, lecturer and translator, and editor of Dictionnaire Tolkien
• Dimitra Fimi — co-editor of A Secret Vice
• Verlyn Flieger — editor of Smith of Wootton Major, The Story of Kullervo, and The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun; author of Splintered Light
• William Fliss — Tolkien archivist at Marquette University's Raynor Library
• John Garth — author of Tolkien and the Great War, The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien and Tolkien at Exeter College
• Christopher Gilson — chief editor of Parma Eldalamberon and leading member of the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship
• Nick Groom — author of Twenty-First-Century Tolkien
• Peter Grybauskas — editor of The Battle of Maldon: together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth
• Wayne G. Hammond — co-editor of The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator, The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, and Roverandom
• Andrew Higgins — co-editor of A Secret Vice
• Thomas Honegger — co-editor of Sub-creating Arda and Laughter in Middle-earth: Humour in and around the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien
• Carl F. Hostetter — editor of The Nature of Middle-earth and Vinyar Tengwar
• John Howe — artist who has illustrated covers for The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The History of Middle-earth
• Yvette Kisor — researcher on medieval literature and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien
• Kristine Larsen — writer and researcher on science and astronomy in Tolkien's works
• Alan Lee — artist who has illustrated The Lord of the Rings, The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Númenor
• Ted Nasmith — artist who has illustrated The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales
• Richard Ovenden — Bodley's Librarian and co-editor of The Great Tales Never End
• John D. Rateliff — author of The History of The Hobbit
• Robin Reid — researcher on Tolkien fandom, fan fiction, and race in Tolkien's works
• Christina Scull — co-editor of The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator, The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and Roverandom
• Brian Sibley — author of The Fall of Númenor
• Chris Smith — the Tolkien editor of HarperCollins
• James Tauber — researcher on corpus linguistics and digital humanities for Tolkien's works
• Jessica Yates — writer of the introduction and commentaries to Joan Wyatt’s A Middle-earth Album, researcher into Tolkien’s sources

Join us this month for a special interview with Shaun Gunner, Chair of the Tolkien Society. We discuss Shaun’s time with the Society, the upcoming Christopher Tolkien Centenary Conference, and a brand-new event for 2025.