Books

Plastic toys and WWI trauma: Tommy in Lynne Reid Banks’ The Indian in the Cupboard

I am on research leave at the moment, working – among other things – on a new book on miniature worlds and characters in children’s fantasy. One of the primary sources I’ve been re-reading recently is Lynne Reid Banks’ The…

By Dimitra Fimi | 11th November 2021 | Books, Children's Fantasy, Children's Literature | No Comments |

Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy wins Mythopoeic Award!

I was absolutely thrilled to find out a couple of months ago that my recent monograph, Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy, had won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies! This is my second Mythopoeic Award: my…

By Dimitra Fimi | 18th November 2019 | Alan Garner, Awards, Books, Celtic Myth, Children's Fantasy, Children's Literature, Fantasy Literature, Folklore, Henry Neff, Irish myth and folklore, Lloyd Alexander, Myth and Folklore, Welsh myth an folklore | No Comments |

Samhain or Halloween? The “ancient Celtic year” in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy

* This essay was originally published in Gramarye, the journal of the Chichester Centre for Fairy Tales, Fantasy and Speculative Fiction, in Issue 11 (Summer 2017), pp. 51-63. In the medieval Irish tale of Tochmarc Emire (“The Wooing of Emer”),…

By Dimitra Fimi | 28th October 2019 | Books, Children's Fantasy, Children's Literature, Fantasy Literature | No Comments |

Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy in the 2018 Mythopoeic Awards Finalists!

I have just found out that my latest monograph, Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), has been shortlisted for the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies! The Mythopoeic Awards are divided into four categories, two for fiction, and…

By Dimitra Fimi | 26th May 2018 | Alan Garner, Awards, Books, Celtic Myth, Children's Fantasy, Children's Literature, Fantasy Literature, Folklore, Henry Neff, Irish myth and folklore, Lloyd Alexander, Myth and Folklore, Welsh myth an folklore, Worldbuilding | No Comments |

Forthcoming talks and lectures: Glasgow, Kalamazoo, Essex, Oxford and North Wales

The next few months are going to be a bit hectic! If you are attending any of the conferences or events below, don’t hesitate to come and say hello! 26-27 April – Keynote for GIFCon (Glasgow International Fantasy Conversations) 2018: ‘In the…

By Dimitra Fimi | 23rd April 2018 | Academic Teaching, Books, Celtic Myth, Children's Fantasy, Conferences, Fantasy Literature, Folklore, Irish myth and folklore, Literature Wales, Myth and Folklore, Public Lecture, Tolkien, Welsh myth an folklore | No Comments |

Alan Garner’s The Owl Service has its 50th anniversary today!

One of the books I’ve worked with very closely during the last few years is Alan Garner’s The Owl Service. Garner’s creative re-use of the tale of Lleu, Blodeuwedd, and Gronw from the Welsh Mabinogion made it a prime candidate…

By Dimitra Fimi | 21st August 2017 | Academic Teaching, Alan Garner, Books, Celtic Myth, Children's Fantasy, Children's Literature, Fantasy Literature, Myth and Folklore, Welsh myth an folklore | No Comments |

George MacDonald and one of Tolkien’s most quotable lines

I’ve been re-reading many of the works of George MacDonald recently, in preparation for my keynote lecture at the George MacDonald’s Scotland conference at the University of Aberdeen next week (https://gmdscotland.wordpress.com/). My lecture is titled “George MacDonald and Celticity”, and…

By Dimitra Fimi | 9th July 2017 | Books, Conferences, Fantasy Literature, Tolkien | No Comments |

Beren and Lúthien: Some First Thoughts (and radio interview)

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Beren and Lúthien, edited by Christopher Tolkien, was published yesterday. The book is an attempt by Christopher Tolkien to extract one of the most beautiful, moving, and personal stories of his father’s ‘legendarium’ into a standalone book, allowing the…

By Dimitra Fimi | 2nd June 2017 | Books, Fantasy Literature, Folklore, Interviews, Media, Myth and Folklore, Tolkien, Worldbuilding | No Comments |

Tolkien and the Art of Book Reviewing: A Circuitous Road to Middle-earth

The Tolkien Society has just uploaded on YouTube my talk for Oxonmoot 2016, titled: “Tolkien and the Art of Book Reviewing: A Circuitous Road to Middle-earth”. I thought, therefore, that it would be a good idea to publish the text of…

By Dimitra Fimi | 17th May 2017 | Books, Fantasy Literature, Public Lecture, Tolkien | No Comments |

How Social Media Has Helped my Research (or, the kindness of strangers!)

This is a title I never thought I’d write! But, having finished another book (submitted exactly a year ago today!) I’m in that reflective mood again, thinking back to some important moments and turning points. Researching and writing a monograph…

By Dimitra Fimi | 1st May 2017 | Books, Celtic Myth, Children's Fantasy, Children's Literature, Fantasy Literature, Interviews, Irish myth and folklore, Lloyd Alexander, Media, Welsh myth an folklore | No Comments |

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