UofG Fantasy

I’m going to Glasgow - my first in-person fantasy conference 🎉

One of the best things I've ever done. Got this pic of Captain Hook on a program field trip

Includes our course on Fantasy literature and culture: www.gla.ac.uk/study/visiti....

We've just sent out proposal decisions for Fantasy's Present Pasts (Glasgow, 23rd-25th June 2026) - if you submitted a proposal, check your inbox! If you haven't heard from us and think you should have done, please drop us an email (using the Centre address, arts-fantasy@glasgow.ac.uk).

The final deadline for proposals for Fantasy's Present Pasts (Glasgow, 23rd-25th June 2026) is this Friday (12th December).

The abstracts we've received so far are very exciting - it's shaping up to be a really good programme.

More information here: fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20....

A printed image of an Eastern dragon over a stormy sea: Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 (1798-1861), 'Dragon and Waves', Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Smithsonian, https://asia-archive.si.edu/object/S2004.3.149/.

A helpful dragon to remind you that the Call for Papers and Sessions for the inaugural European Conference on the Fantastic, Fantasy's Present Pasts (23rd-25th June 2026 in Glasgow), closes on Friday 12th December.

More details here: fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20....

Very excited for this. Sofia Samatar is one of my favourite living writers so I will be attending!

Our 11th cohort of @uofgfantasy.bsky.social MLitt students have chosen a bird name! Following:
2015-16 Canaries
2016-17 Phoenixes
2017-18 Ravens
2018-19 Merlins
2019-20 Owls
2020-21 Nightingales
2021-22 Sparrowhawks
2022-23 Nightjars
2023-24 Peregrines
2024-25 Starlings
Welcome:
2025-26 the Magpies!

#CfP 🎓

es ist soweit: der CfP für die erste European Conference on the Fantastic zum Thema „Fantasy‘s Present Pasts“ ist da 🐉

wir freuen uns schon auf unsere Zeit im Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic in Glasgow am 23.-25. Juni 2026 ✨🦄

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A reminder that we're hosting the first European Conference on the Fantastic, Fantasy's Present Pasts, in Glasgow next summer (23rd-25th June 2026). The Call for Papers and Sessions can be found here: fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20.... Closes 12th December. Please do consider submitting!

Call for Papers and Sessions

Fantasy’s Present Pasts

University of Glasgow
Tuesday 23rd – Thursday 25th June 2026

Keynote Speakers: Stefan Ekman, Sofia Samatar and Helen Young

More details on the conference in the post linked below - deadline for proposals is Friday 12th December.

27th June: Medieval Wyrms and Victorian Sea Serpents!

8th August: Sensational Stories and Firm Facts (including a real snake dissection

29th August: Cryptips and Lost Worlds!

5th September: Film night

Have you ever wanted to discover more about the mythological, legendary history of snakes? Well here's your chance! Join the University of Glasgow at The Hunterian for a series of evening events this summer! More details below 👇

Peter Winnington, The Voice of the Heart: the Working of Mervyn Peake’s Imagination (2006) [Last month I learned that my friend, the finest Peake scholar of all time, Peter Winnington, had died after a long illness. I worked closely with Peter twice: once when going over the manuscript o…

At The City of Lost Books: a tribute to the late Peter Winnington, in the form of my essay-review on his Mervyn Peake monograph, The Voice of the Heart. @uofgfantasy.bsky.social
thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac.uk/peter-winnin...

Today’s piece is my Oxonmoot 2021 talk, on the 40th anniversary of #Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales, focusing on “Aldarion and Erendis”, Galadriel’s hair, and Gandalf’s character development.
@tolkiensociety.org @tolkienguide.com @uofgfantasy.bsky.social

dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/reflection...

A very big thank you to the @gifcon.bsky.social team for their dedication and hard work in giving us all a fantastical GifCon conference year after year, and to all of the speakers and attendees for being a part of it!

Catch up on some of the talks on YouTube: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Thank you for being a part of it!

We have been devouring every word of the last two days of @gifcon.bsky.social We're both excited for tomorrow and sad it's the last day.

What have been your highlights so far?

#FantasyLiterature #QueeringTheFantastic #GIFCon

What a wonderful day of @gifcon.bsky.social again!

Have you reserved your spot?

GIFCon 2025: Qeering the Fantastic starts TOMORROW at 12:30 BST

Don’t miss a moment: fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20...

It's GIFCon week!!! Who's going to be there?

Did you hear about the new Gruffalo story coming out in September? I was live on BBC Radio Scotland’s #Drivetime programme this evening to chat about this. Link to listen again here: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... (I am on from 2:02:59)
@uofgfantasy.bsky.social @uofgartshums.bsky.social

I'm honoured to be taking part in the annual @uofgfantasy.bsky.social conference, @gifcon.bsky.social, with a keynote on queer pregnancy in fantastika. It's completely online next week, registration is still open #medicalhumanities #sciencefiction #cfp

fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20...

Today's the day! Get those applications in! #SummerSchoolHereWeCome
Sign up here: www.gla.ac.uk/study/visiti...

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#FantasyLiterature #SciFiLiterature #BookLover #SummerSchool #InternationalCourses

Fantasy 1939: Patricia Lynch, The Grey Goose of Kilnevin [This post continues a discussion that began in my February post, Fantasy 1939: Patricia Lynch, The Turf-Cutter’s Donkey Kicks Up His Heels, which you can find here. However, it can also be r…

There's a new blog post at The City of Lost Books, on Patricia Lynch's The Grey Goose of Kilnevin (1939). This is a lovely book, and worth reading in the first edition (or an early one published by J M Dent)! @uofgfantasy.bsky.social
thecityoflostbooks.glasgow.ac.uk/fantasy-1939...

Tomorrow! The deadline is tomorrow!
www.gla.ac.uk/study/visiti...
#summerschool #fantasyliterature

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1953 W. P. Ker Memorial Lecture: An Updated Chronology and Related Findings On 15 April 1953, J. R. R. Tolkien was at the University of Glasgow to deliver the W. P. Ker Memorial Lecture on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, later published in The Monsters and the Critics, an...

'"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1953 W. P. Ker Memorial Lecture: An Updated Chronology and Related Findings' in English Studies 105, #6⬇️

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

#TolkienScholar #Tolkien #Glasgow #FantasyLit #MiddleEarth #TolkienSociety

Congratulations to @dimitrafimi.bsky.social and Dr Andoni Cossio for winning Best Article at the @tolkiensociety.org 2025 Awards!
Access their article below⬇️

We won! Many congratulations to all other winners and shortlisted #Tolkien scholars too! Here’s the full list: www.tolkiensociety.org/2025/04/winn...

@tolkiensociety.org @uofgfantasy.bsky.social @uofgartshums.bsky.social

Who? What? When? Where? See below for our International Summer School info and let us know if you have any questions!
www.gla.ac.uk/study/visiti...
#FantasyBooks #literature #Glasgow