In 2025 Tolkien at IMC Leeds (7-10 July 2025) will be celebrating our ten year anniversary having been started in 2015 by our founder Professor Dimitra Fimi.
We are very pleased that the 2025 IMC Tolkien Sessions will again be sponsored by the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow
Paper submissions are being sought for the following 2025 Tolkien at Leeds sessions:
Tolkien: Medieval Roots and Modern Branches
This session can accommodate wider topics and new approaches to Tolkien's medievalism, ranging from source studies and theoretical readings to comparative studies of Tolkien’s works.
Learning, Lore and Craft in Tolkien’s Medieval World
Papers in this session can explore the role that learning, preserving lore and producing crafts in their widest sense play in Tolkien’s world-building of his Middle-earth legendarium and other fictional and academic works.
Oral Tradition and Medieval Transmission in Tolkien’s Works
“From ‘The Book of Lost Tales’ to ‘The Red Book of Westmarch’ and ‘The Notion Club Papers,’ Tolkien crafted various narrative frameworks to convey the conceit of transmitting his invented secondary world into our primary reality. In this session, papers can delve into the significance of orality in Tolkien’s works and explore the diverse transmission frameworks he developed. Additionally, researchers may investigate the literary works that might have influenced Tolkien’s efforts to create these connections
J.R.R. Tolkien as Teacher and Mentor at Leeds and Beyond
In this session, papers will celebrate Tolkien’s pivotal role as a teacher and mentor to students at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford. Topics may encompass how Tolkien’s teaching and mentorship influenced scholars, the academic work he supervised, and the establishment of academic clubs like The Viking Club at Leeds and its counterpart, Kolbitar, at Oxford. Additionally, attendees can explore students’ memories of Tolkien as both a teacher and mentor
Tolkien at Leeds Annual Roundtable: Teaching Tolkien
The Annual Tolkien at Leeds Roundtable will invite educators to discuss and debate teaching methodologies and the unique challenges of bringing Tolkien’s works into 21st-century classrooms.
Please submit a paper contribution title and abstract by 31 August 2024 to
Dr. Andrew Higgins (asthiggins@me.com)
- Length of abstracts: 150 words (max!)
- Please include a short bibliography of main research your paper will be drawing on and be in dialogue with.
- Papers will be 15-20 minutes long (3 session papers will be preferred)
- With your abstract, please include name and details of contributor (affiliation, address, and preferred e-mail address)
