Giuseppe Pezzini is a Tolkien scholar whose work examines the ideas, traditions, and literary thought that shaped Tolkien's imagination. His book Tolkien and the Mystery of Literary Creation offers a major reconstruction of Tolkien's understanding of literature and creative imagination.

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Dr Holly Ordway

Holly Ordway is a literary scholar and author whose research explores Tolkien's reading, imagination, and intellectual formation. In this conversation, we discuss the books that shaped Tolkien's creative life, his engagement with the literary tradition, and what his library reveals about his work.

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Tom Emanuel is a theologian, ordained minister, and Tolkien scholar specializing in the relationship between Tolkien, religion, fandom, and reader reception. His research examines how contemporary readers—including those with no religious affiliation—find meaning, community, and spiritual significance in The Lord of the Rings.

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Dr Dennis Wise

Dennis Wilson Wise is a literary scholar whose research explores Tolkien, epic fantasy, and political theory. A faculty member at the University of Arizona, he has published widely on Tolkien’s literary significance, fantasy criticism, and genre history, helping to connect Tolkien studies with broader debates in literary and cultural theory.

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Daniel Stride

Stride is a New Zealand fantasy author and independent Tolkien scholar whose essays explore The Silmarillion, mythology, and fantasy literature. Combining close textual analysis with a deep knowledge of Tolkien’s legendarium, he offers thoughtful perspectives on the literary, historical, and philosophical dimensions of Middle-earth.

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Reading Tolkien has built perhaps the most comprehensive archive of long-form interviews with Tolkien scholars currently available. These conversations provide a remarkable survey of contemporary Tolkien studies, covering literary criticism, textual scholarship, medievalism, mythopoeia, adaptation studies, fandom, and reception history.

Professor Michael Drout - on The Tower and the Ruin

Dr Michael D.C. Drout is widely recognized for his scholarship on Tolkien, including editing Beowulf and the Critics (based on Tolkien’s work), which won the 2003 Mythopoeic Award for Scholarship in Inklings Studies. He also edited the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia and co-edited the academic journal Tolkien Studies.

In addition to traditional literary scholarship, Drout is known for developing computer-assisted methods of literary analysis through the Lexomics Research Group, applying quantitative techniques to study texts and authorship.

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Brian Rosebury

Brian Rosebury is a British philosopher, literary critic, and Tolkien scholar who taught at the University of Central Lancashire. He is best known for Tolkien: A Critical Assessment and Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon, influential works that helped advance the academic study of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings.

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Dawn M. Walls-Thumma

Dawn M. Walls-Thumma is an independent Tolkien scholar, humanities teacher, and founder of the Silmarillion Writers’ Guild. Her research explores The Silmarillion, Tolkien fan communities, and fan fiction culture. She has published widely on Tolkien studies, fandom studies, narrative bias, and literary reception.

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Dr Vladimir Brljak

Vladimir Brljak is a literary historian and Associate Professor of English Studies at Durham University. His research spans early modern literature, allegory, poetics, and the history of cosmology. Tolkien scholars know him particularly for his work on Tolkien’s metafictional techniques and the framing narratives of the legendarium.

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Dr Gergely Nagy

Gergely Nagy is a Hungarian medievalist and Tolkien scholar at the University of Szeged. Renowned for his theoretically sophisticated analyses of Tolkien’s legendarium, he has written extensively on myth-making, textuality, and The Silmarillion, and is a leading figure in international Tolkien scholarship.

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