Tag Archives: Guy Gavriel Kay

“Just Enough Light: Some Thoughts on Fantasy and Literature,” the 2021 Tolkien Lecture by Guy Gavriel Kay

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

I was pleased last week to watch the 8th annual J.R.R Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature, an annual lecture on fantasy literature held at Pembroke College, Oxford, this year broadcast online. The Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature was established in … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian literature, Fictional Worlds, News & Links, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Adam Roberts, fantasy literature, Guy Gavriel Kay, J.R.R. Tolkien, Kij Johnson, Lev Grossman, Marlon James., speculative fiction, Susan Cooper, Terri Windling, The Tolkien Lecture, V.E. Schwab | 16 Comments

Canadian Authors the Prime Minister Forgot to Read (a #canadareads post)

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Narcity did this little piece last week: “Justin Trudeau Wants Everyone To Read More Canadian Books & Here Are Some Options.” The Prime Minister mentions: Margaret Atwood L.M. Montgomery Douglas Coupland Robertson Davies Heather O’Neill This is all in celebration … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Afrofuturism, apocalyptic literature, Canada Reads, CBC, dystopia, Emily St. John Mandel, Guy Gavriel Kay, L.M. Montgomery, Louise Bernice Halfe, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Margaret Atwood, Mark Sampson, Michael Crummey, Miriam Toews, Nalo Hopkins, The Fionavar Tapestry, Trudeau, Yann Martel | 26 Comments

Is L.M. Montgomery Canada’s Author?

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

In the L.M. Montgomery feature in Penguin’s Extraordinary Canadians series, novelist Jane Urquhart describes how Montgomery’s novels created a literary legacy in her small-town family. Urquhart’s grandmother’s Anne books “electrified” her mother’s childhood, adding “meaning and intensity even to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian literature, L.M. Montgomery | Tagged Alice Munro, Anne of Green Gables, Canada, Canada Day, Canadian literature, Douglas Coupland, FIonavar Tapestry, Guy Gavriel Kay, Jane Urquhart, L.M. Montgomery, Lawrence Hill, Margaret Atwood, Michael Crummey, Michael Ondaatje, Miriam Toews, Prince Edward Island, Robert Munsch, William Gibson, Yann Martel | 22 Comments

The Last Letter of J.R.R. Tolkien, on the 45th Anniversary of His Death

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I have just finished reading The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1982), which is fitting given that this is the 45th anniversary of his death (2 Sep 1973). With help from Christopher Tolkien, noted writer, broadcaster, and biographer Humphrey Carpenter collected the letters … Continue reading →

Posted in L.M. Montgomery, Letters | Tagged Christopher Tolkien, Death, diary, Dorothy L. Sayers, Guy Gavriel Kay, Humphrey Carpenter, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, letters, The Fall of Gondolin, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Walter Hooper | 33 Comments

Lewis, Tolkien and Different Views of Fan Fiction

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

One of the assignments that I give my students, adapted from the late C.S. Lewis scholar Dr. Bruce Edwards, is for students to get into groups and sketch out an 8th Chronicle of Narnia in the form of a book … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, copyright, FIonavar Tapestry, Guy Gavriel Kay, J.R.R. Tolkien, letters, Letters to Children, literature, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, writing | 109 Comments

The Fayborn Series by J. Aleksandr Wootton

Posted on November 13, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

In tales where a child or young adult is going to save the world, the hero-in-waiting is usually withering away in obscurity, knowing they were meant for so much more but spending their lives doing homework, harvesting cabbages, working fast … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged A First or Family Mischief, American Gods, books, faerie, Fayborn, Guy Gavriel Kay, Her Unwelcome Inheritance, Holly Black, intertextuality, J. Aleksandr Wootton, literature, Neil Gaiman, pastiche, The Eighth Square | 3 Comments

Sleepless Knights by Mark H. Williams

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

What kept King Arthur up at night? I bet people have been wondering about this all these centuries. After all, defining a nation, revolutionizing social culture, conquering the world, defending against cuckoldry, protecting your kingdom against your evil witch sister, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Arthuriana, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, fantasy, Guy Gavriel Kay, Mark H Williams, Monty Python, Roger Lancelyn Green, Roger Zelazny, Sleepless Knights, T.H. White | 7 Comments

From The Hobbit to Harry Potter, From Fairy Tale to Epic

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

In his Cinderella Story essay, “On Stories”—an essay that was passed over when it was first published but now known by anyone who thinks about Fantasy literature—C.S. Lewis defends Fantasy literature by placing it on a higher shelf of literatures. … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds, Lewis' Essays, Reflections, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Dan Brown, Experiment in Criticism, fantasy, Guy Gavriel Kay, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth, Narnia, The Hobbit, ursula le guin | 76 Comments

The Hobbit as a Living Text: The Battle of 5 Blogs

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

This post is part of the Battle of the Five Blogs, or six blogs to be precise. It is a throw-down of various Tolkien bloggers who are thinking about the release of the final installment of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Christopher Tolkien, Diana Pavlac Glyer, film, Guy Gavriel Kay, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth, That Hideous Strength, The Battle of Five Armies, The Hobbit, The Silmarilion | 101 Comments

Digital Dust? Thoughts on my 300th Post

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

300 posts. Wow. When I began this project, I had little sense of an end in sight. It really began as a way of reading C.S. Lewis out loud. Over time, as my roots have deepened, the tree has branched … Continue reading →