Cultus Dispatches: Revelations from Marquette's Fanzine Dataset
In September 2026, Marquette University released a dataset about their Tolkien fanzine collection. Analysis of the data reveals what these fanzines contained and show how pre-internet Tolkien fandom responded to the publication of "The Silmarillion."
This is quite the list of…
This is quite the list of reviews. I looked at Wayne and Christina's informative and interesting "making of" post. For the reviews, with so many things to read, I'm happy to just wait for your review (whenever it comes, it'll be precisely on time!)
I also peeke at the errata and, as an impatient perfectionist who's been in desktop publishing and made more than my fair share of print errors, my first reaction to the long list was visceral! But the collected poems is a startlingly massive tome (and the source material so often difficult to decipher) so that is actually a relatively short list! I probably shouldn't be surprised that he wrote so many poems, considering the volumes of his other work, but by the same token, how on earth did he find the time, between work, family, and recurrent illnesses!? (Then again, looking at my own disregarded heaps of unshared writing and drawings that my timewasteful perfectionism deems notgoodenough, and knowing he was apparently similarly afflicted, I guess I know the answer.)
Thank you for checking this…
Thank you for checking this collection out! I'm glad you found things of interest to you.
Wayne and Christina's reputation for accuracy is very high indeed. I think it is a testimony to that thoroughness and also to their scrupulous honesty that they found and posted that list of errata and addenda so quickly, even though at first sight the length of the list might suggest the opposite. It was a really tricky editing job.
I find fascinating not only that there are so many, but how some of the poems grow and transform alongside and within the Legendarium!