Bestselling Author Marlon James delivers the Seventh Annual J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature

The following article is written by Pembroke graduate student and MCR president, Louis Morris (DPhil History, 2017).

The Tolkien Lecture and Pembroke recently welcomed best-selling author Marlon James for the seventh annual J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature, entitled ‘Our Myths, Our Selves’.

Having achieved critical acclaim for literary works such as The Book of Night Women and A Brief History of Seven Killings (which in 2015 made him the first Jamaican-born winner of the Booker Prize), Marlon has recently turned to the fantasy genre with his new African-inspired epic Black Leopard, Red Wolf. The book has generated massive worldwide excitement, with the film rights having already been snapped up before the novel’s UK release date, so it was with a keen sense of anticipation that a large audience came to fill the Pichette auditorium and hear his lecture on the 26th February.

In a talk which ranged widely and probed deeply, Marlon addressed Greek tragedy, Arthurian legend, and the origins of Tolkien’s work in the upheaval of the First World War, before asking us to consider the question of what “a lack of mythological history does to a people”. On the way, we learned a lot of fascinating snippets of fact and folklore and met many formidable characters, including vampires that can’t be stopped even by the noonday sun. The lecture was followed by a lively audience discussion, after which there was an opportunity for attendees to get their books signed. As is traditional, conversations were continued over dinner in the Forte Room, and at ‘second dessert’ in the MCR.

The lecture and Q&A can be watched here.

The organisers are grateful to the support of the Pembroke Annual Fund and the Kadas Family Charitable Foundation, without which the lecture would not be able to take place.

About the J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature

From 1925-1945 J.R.R. Tolkien served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke. During this time he wrote The Hobbit and the majority of The Lord of the Rings.

Since 2013 Pembroke students have organised an annual free-to-attend lecture in honour of J.R.R. Tolkien. The purpose of the lecture series is to promote speculative fiction — primarily, but not limited to, the fantasy genre — as literature worthy of study and scrutiny, and to advance our understanding of it by hearing from some of the most influential and talented people working in the field today.

For more information, and to sign up for a mailing list to be alerted about next year’s talk, please visit the Tolkien Lecture Series website.