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January Challenge at tolkienshortfanworks

The January challenge has been posted to the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth. 

The thematic challenge is: small comforts.
A hobbit-like start to the year!
But there are all sorts of small comforts to be had, in all Ages, if we put our minds to it.

The formal challenge is: include a list of ingredients, short or long.
If your small comforts happen to be culinary, that could be an actual recipe.
But it could also be the ingredients of a medical remedy or, in arts and crafts, of ink or dye, etc.
You could go for a metaphorical list of ingredients as well!

The prompts can be filled separately and freely combined with other challenges that allow this. New participants welcome. More details on the challenges at the linked post. 

January 2025 Call for Papers and Proposals

Call for Proposals: Anthology on Women and Gender

We invite submissions for an anthology focused on women and gender in Tolkien’s writings, ‘Great Heart and Strength:’ New Essays on Women and Gender in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien. In 2015, Janet Brennan Croft and Leslie A. Donovan published Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J.R.R. Tolkien, the first volume dedicated to the subject of women in Tolkien’s works and life, which collected the major milestones of feminist scholarship in Tolkien studies alongside new essays. Since then, feminist scholarship and gender theory has flourished in and outside of Tolkien studies. This volume will honor Croft and Donovan’s work and build on the past decade of feminist scholarship in Tolkien studies by presenting a new collection of essays on women and gender in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Please send your proposal (no more than 300 words) and a short bio (100 words) to cami.agan@oc.edu by March 15, 2025.Working bibliographies encouraged.

Proposals should focus on women and gender in the legendarium or in non-legendarium texts by J.R.R. Tolkien, reflecting contemporary feminist and intersectional theory. Proposals may also focus on non-binary, trans, and gender fluid interpretations, as well as non-anthropomorphic topics such as landscapes and environments. All proposals should convey a thorough knowledge of previous feminist scholarship in Tolkien studies as well as current theory outside of Tolkien studies. We highly encourage intersectional work, which analyzes how gender intersects with other aspects of identity (such as race, sexuality, class, etc.).

Topics may include but are not limited to:

• Female characters in the legendarium
• Female characters in Tolkien’s non-legendarium works (such as The Fall of Arthur, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, etc.)
• Non-binary, trans, and gender fluid interpretations of characters
• Landscapes, environments, and material culture
• Historical conceptions of gender
• Intersections with race, sexuality, socio-economic class, etc.
• Postcolonial analyses
• Women and gender in adaptations of Tolkien’s work
• Women scholars of the legendarium and/or women-centered treatments of Tolkien’s legendarium

Mythcon, the conference of the Mythopoeic Society, is scheduled for August 2025, and its theme is Women and Gender in Sci-Fi Fantasy, and we hope to organize several panels from the accepted submissions.

Mythopoeic Society Online Midsummer Seminar: Women and Gender in Mythopoeic Fantasy

The Mythopoeic Society invites paper submissions for an online conference that focuses on intersectional feminist approaches to women and gender in fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction or other mythopoeic work. While the focus of this seminar is women and gender in mythopoeic works, we encourage proposals that acknowledge and analyze the intersectionality of gender with other aspects of identity, experience, and embodiment, including the non-human. Proposals should engage with developments in women and gender studies that both acknowledge and seek to move beyond the work of Perilous and Fair, drawing on theories and methodologies from recent years.

Papers, panels, and roundtables from a variety of critical perspectives and disciplines are welcome. We are interested in ANY form of media — text, graphic novels, comics, television, movies, music and music videos, games — as long as it can be described as fantasy or otherwise mythopoeic. We also welcome papers on the work of either of our Guests of Honor.

Each presentation will receive a 50-minute slot to allow time for questions, but individual presentations should be timed for oral presentation in 40 minutes maximum. Two or three presenters who wish to present short, related papers may also share one 50-minute slot.

Individual proposals (~200 words) with bios (150 words, maximum) should be sent to: oms-chair @ mythcon.org by March 31, 2025.

Group (two or three presenters) proposals should group the individual proposals together to send to: oms-chair @ mythcon.org by March 31, 2025.

Working bibliographies are welcome, but not required.

The seminar will be held August 2-5, 2025 on Zoom and Discord.

The full call for papers and more on the midsummer online seminar can be found here.

Coming Soon: Call for Proposals for McFarland's Critical Explorations in Tolkien Studies Series

We are sharing this information on behalf of Robin Anne Reid:

I recently signed a Letter of Agreement with McFarland Publishers to become the series editor for a new series, Critical Explorations in Tolkien Studies. The series will open for proposals in 2025 after I assemble an advisory board.

Scholars can submit proposals in either of two tracks. The first track is for single-author or collaborative monographs and edited collections written for academic experts that should be between 70-100K words long. The second track is for shorter Critical Companions, between 40-50K words long, written for a general audience including but not limited to students and fans. Submissions for both tracks will go through a double-blind peer review process.

Proposals on topics relating to Tolkien's published works as well as to the edited posthumous publications; the adaptations for film, television, and games; the translations; and fan transformative works (textual and visual) or other reception studies may be submitted to either track.

While peer-reviewed scholarship is a professional necessity for tenure-track and tenured academics, there is also value in shorter works, informed by critical theories, that focus on an aspect of single work or a thematic group of works, especially ones that have received less critical attention than The Lord of the Rings. The Critical Companions are designed to introduce a more general audience to analytical approaches and the scholarship in Tolkien studies by situating works in their socio-historical contexts; explaining how the text or texts fit into the field of Tolkien studies; and modelling how to apply critical theories to analyze primary texts.

The primary goals of the series are to add significant original contributions to Tolkien scholarship by developing and to create and support greater diversity in the field by embracing a wide definition of what Tolkien studies includes in relation to authors, texts, topics, theories, and methods.

Both single author and collaborative works, especially those foregrounding intersectionality, are explicitly welcome from authors without regard to ability status, age, caste, class, ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, or sexuality. Approaches can include but are not limited to theories and methods from class studies, cultural studies, critical race studies; digital and new media studies; fan and reception studies; feminist, gender, and queer studies; film studies, languages and linguistics, literary studies (any period); medieval and medievalist studies; pedagogical studies, modernist and postmodernist studies, media and marketing studies; religious and theological studies; source studies; stylistics, and tourism studies.

Contingent faculty, early-career faculty, graduate students, independent scholars, tenure-track and tenured faculty in the Americas and worldwide who are trained in any discipline and period specialization are invited to submit proposals in either track and to consider applying to become m become a member of the advisory board.

The call for applications to the advisory board will be circulated shortly. Please email robinareid@fastmail with any questions you may have.

Tolkien at UVM 2025: Tolkien and War

We are excited to have John Garth as our keynote speaker, and we are encouraging all abstracts but will give priority to those on the theme. Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• War in Europe
• War in Middle-earth
• War and Tolkien’s poetry
• Heroic battle poetry
• War and Tolkien’s English
• War in the films/TV shows
• Gender/Sexuality and War
• Psychology and War
• Religion and War

Please submit 200 word abstracts to cvaccaro@uvm.edu by Sunday February 2nd.

Signum University Regional Moots

These small, regional conferences are held at various dates and locations. See the Regional Moots page for more details.

Journal of Fandom Studies: Open Call for Papers

Journal of Fandom Studies seeks to offer scholars a dedicated, peer-reviewed publication that promotes current scholarship into the fields of fan and audience studies across a variety of media. We focus on the critical exploration, within a wide range of disciplines and fan cultures, of issues surrounding production and consumption of popular media (including film, music, television, sports and gaming).

The editors welcome general papers (between 6000 and 9000 words), interviews and book reviews (between 800 and 1200 words) as well as suggestions for thematic issues.

All articles submitted should be original work and must not be under consideration by other publications.

See the Journal of Fandom Studies open call for papers for more information.

Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2025

Fandom Snowflake is an annual challenge with prompts and tasks related to fandom. Every odd-numbered day we’ll be posting a challenge for the day where you can participate & leave a comment with a link to your post (or just "I did it!", which is also good ^_^). Remember there’s no deadline, so you if miss a challenge on the day, feel free to post it on another day. You may also skip a day if you won’t have fun on the challenge, the Snowflake Challenge is meant to be something fun to start the new year with, don’t strain yourself trying to do everything if you can’t or don’t find it fun!

As for what you can post about: anything that brings you joy & excitement! Here fandom is meant to be a coming together or people sharing a passion. Fanworks can be anything you poured a piece of yourself in, anything you worked on, anything you made that brings you joy!

Prompts

Challenge #1: – Update fandom information
Challenge #2: – Your Fannish Origin Story
Challenge #3: – Talk about a fannish opinion that's changed over time
Challenge #4: – Set Goals
Challenge #5: – Talk about what has improved in your life thanks to fandom
Challenge #6: – Share a favorite piece of original canon
Challenge #7: – Wishlist
Challenge #8: – Fandom Promo
Challenge #9: – Create Something
Challenge #10: – Fandom Firsts
Challenge #11: – Favorite Trope, cliche, kink, motif, theme
Challenge #12: – Rec Post
Challenge #13: – Comment Challenge
Challenge #14: – Create Your Own Challenge
Challenge #15: – Talk about an unexpected joyous moment you experienced last year

Arafinwëan Week 2025

Day 1: Finarfin | Eärwen | pre-Darkening | family, duty, and kingship

Day 2: Finrod | Darkening and Flight of the Noldor | oaths, loyalty, and sacrifice

Day 3: Angrod | Aegnor | Crossing of the Helcaraxë and the War of the Jewels | lordship, allies, and vassals

Day 4: Galadriel | Second Age | choices and regrets

Day 5: Orodreth | Finduilas | textual ghosts | Third Age | heritage, history, and heirlooms

Day 6: Gil-Galad | Celebrían | Arafinwëan OCs | Valinor and re-embodiment | future and legacy

Day 7: Later generations | free choice

My Slashy Valentine 2025

From the Years of the Trees to the Fourth Age, from sultry tales of the Silmarillion to romances in the Ring Wars … sound familiar? That’s right, Slashy Swaps are back and it’s once again time to make your Tolkien fanfic dreams come true.

My Slashy Valentine is a hand matched slash fiction exchange focused on the people of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Sign ups are now OPEN so spread the word, recruit your friends and fellow authors, and get ready for MSV 2025.

Sign-up Period: December 6th to December 20th
Assignments distributed: by December 28th
Deadline for first time participants: January 31st, 2025
Deadline for veteran participants: February 7th, 2025
Archive opens: February 14th, 2025

Take a look through our rules and FAQ – or on AO3 if you’re on the mobile app, because Tumblr – and then come along to our SIGN UP PAGE and share the adventure.

Tolkien Pinup Calendar: 8 Nights of Smut

For December, we are working with @hanukkahbingo to bring you some naughty prompts for the Festival of Lights! @hanukkahbingo is a panfandom event so these prompts are open to anyone. This Tumblr will be reblogging all of the Tolkien-related content and @hanukkahbingo will reblog for any fandom!

As always, any fic, moodboard, fanart, edit, etc is allowed to be submitted!

To submit: 1) Tag us @tolkienpinupcalendar and @hanukkahbingo 2) use the tag #tpc8nightsofsmut 3) use the smutmissions form here

Prompts can be found here.

Tolkien Pinup Calendar: Dead Dove December

It's that time of year again! Time to cozy up with blankets and hot cocoa, and read some beautifully crafted non-con smut . . . Everyone does that, right?

We are bringing Dead Dove December back with all new prompts!

As always, any fic, moodboard, fanart, edit, etc is allowed to be submitted!

To Submit:

1. Tag us @tolkienpinupcalendar
2. Use the tag #tpcdeaddoveedevember
3. Use the smutmissions form here

Find the Dead Dove December prompts here.

Thorin's Spring Forge 2025

Calling all Thorin fans! We are happy to announce that sign-ups for Thorin’s Spring Forge (TSF) 2025 are now open!

What is TSF?

TSF is a minibang-style event where writers and artists come together to create fanworks centred on Thorin Oakenshield. Fanworks can be based on the book or the movie version of the character. Any pairing or gen are welcome and we look forward to seeing what you create!

You can participate in this event as a:

• Writer;
• Artist;
• Beta reader;
• Pinch hitter (writer);
• Pinch hitter (artist).

Explanations of what each of these roles is can be found in our FAQ. You may sign up for more than one role, but there is a maximum of two fanworks per participant (i.e. you may write two fics, or create two artworks, or do one of each).

Participating authors create a short summary/synopsis of a fic, which is posted anonymously for artists to view and claim. Artists will then create art based on the fic they chose, and authors will write a complete fic (minimum 2,500 words).

Sign up as a writer

Sign up as an artist

Sign up as a beta reader or pinch hitter

Sign-ups for authors and artists will be open until January 5th 11:59 pm EST.

Sign-ups for beta readers and pinch hitters will remain open for the duration of the event!

Please be sure to familiarise yourself with our rules and schedule before signing up!

Questions? Visit our FAQ or contact us via thorinsspringforge@gmail.com, or send us an ask or DM on Tumblr.

If you have an idea you want to suggest: Add something to the suggestion form (this does not constitute a sign-up!)

If you are unsure of what you want to write: Check out the suggestions list!

Festival of Lights Fest 2024

Happy Hanukkah! The Festival of Lights Fest mods are pleased to announce the fest's return this year as an SWG event.

This is a fun and low-key event meant to encourage works about or inspired by Hanukkah. Fanworks might directly depict Hanukkah (e.g., a modern AU with Jewish characters), might relate to Hanukkah (such as an in-universe celebration similar to Hanukkah), or might just be inspired by our Hanukkah prompts.

In conjunction with the Potluck Bingo Challenge, we offer participants two Hanukkah-themed Bingo boards. (The boards have similar, but somewhat different, content, and the content is in different orders on the two boards.) Play one, play both; go for a bingo, or just go with what inspires you! Notes that both Potluck Bingo and the Festival of Lights Fest are listed as SWG challenges this year on the archive. Janeways and Independence1776 are your mods for this event!

Fluffcember 2024

Fluffcember is a Tumblr event with daily fluffy prompts during the month of December.

1. This is a 1-month-challenge for fluffy fanworks.
2. All sorts of fanworks (art, writing, graphics) welcome.
3. We will however not accept any AI-Art or AI-Writing!
4. SFW and NSFW is both welcome - but please make sure to tag it accordingly.
5. Tag content warnings if you share under this tag!
6. No minimum or maximum word count for writing!