J.R.R. Tolkien – Page 10

The Tolkien Professor: Lectures on J.R.R. Tolkien

SFFaudio Online Audio

The Tolkien Professor podcast is a series of lectures on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien by Corey Olsen, Assistant Professor of English at Washington College in Maryland. Sez Olsen:

“In my lectures, I am working through The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings in detail, doing close readings of the stories (and the songs!) in order to explore the fascinating details of Tolkien’s world while also tracking some of the large, important themes in Tolkien’s fiction. I am currently in the middle of my eight-part series on The Hobbit; read along with me! After you listen, swing by my website to take part in my discussion board or to check out my online Tolkien bookstore.”

I’m going to be listening to these lectures soon!

Olsen is a big proponent of audio in academe, he’s performed Thomas Malory’s The Tale of Sir Lancelot aloud, and he’s the narrator of an unabridged recording of William Langland’s Piers Plowman (in Middle English).

Podcast feed:

http://www.tolkienprofessor.com/rss_feed.xml

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

[Thanks Julie!]

Posted by Jesse Willis

China Mieville interviewed about his novel The City & The City

SFFaudio Online Audio

Recorded at the BookExpo America, China Mieville talks about his novel The City & The City |MP3|

And be sure to take note that the audiobook came out recently…

The City & The City
By China Mieville; Read by John Lee
Audible Download – 10 Hours 18 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: May 26, 2009
Provider: Audible.com
ISBN: 9780739384251
When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined. Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own.

Also be sure to check out Mieville’s 5 part defense of J.R.R. Tolkien (as opposed to Richard K. Morgan’s attack).

[via Omnivoracious]

Posted by Jesse Willis

CBC Words @ Large: how The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings got published

SFFaudio Online Audio

The CBC Radio One podcast Words At Large has a vintage 1987 interview with Rayner Unwin, who convinced his father to publish J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings.

“When he sent it to George Allen & Unwin, the company’s publisher asked his 10-year-old son to vet the manuscript. Rayner Unwin recommended that the book be published, saying that it would appeal to ‘children ages five to nine.’ He was paid one shilling for his work.”

Listen direct |MP3|, or subscribe to the podcast feed:

http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/wordsatlarge.xml

Posted by Jesse Willis

P.S. Hope y’all haven’t forgotten that Apocalypse Al still must be freed!

CBC Radio One: Writers And Company – Sir Arthur C. Clarke

SFFaudio Online Audio

On March 31st CBC Radio One’s Writers And Company aired an interview, conducted in November 2000, with Arthur C. Clarke. I somehow missed this episode in the podcast feed (sorry folks). Unfortunately it is no longer in the podcast feed either. Fortunately it is still online. Have a listen |MP3|!

This may be the very best of the many Arthur C. Clarke interviews out there. Clarke talks his youth, Science Fiction, science, Astounding magazine, Meccano, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.G. Wells, Olaf Stapledon, Eric Frank Russel, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and tons more. Kudos to the CBC and Eleanor Wachtel, as other people have noted, she’ truly is “the best arts interviewer in the business.”

Posted by Jesse Willis

NRO Between The Covers: The History of The Hobbit interview

SFFaudio Online Audio

The National Review Online‘s Between The Covers program has a fascinating interview with John D. Rateliff who has authored The History of the Hobbit…

“the first time that Tolkien had written a whole book-length work of fiction; his earlier pieces were much shorter than The Hobbit. So it was a sort of ambitious undertaking for him. He got ideas, and then as the story went along, he would reject them. Originally, Bilbo would kill the dragon. . . . ”

Have a listen online, the file is in the Flash audio format (SWF) |LISTEN|.

[via The Cimmerian]
Posted by Jesse Willis

Lecture: Joe Haldeman on "The Craft of Science Fiction"

SFFaudio Online Audio

	iTunes U, is a new section in the iTunes store offering the content of higher education institutions. Lectures and seminars dominate, some video, some audio. A few of the cooler ones that have caught our eyes are up already. The last set is a collection from Seattle Pacific University (a “Christian university of the liberal arts, sciences and professions”) as such these are lectures that look at their subject decidedly Christian POV. For those of you who don’t use iTunes we’ve also tracked down the original sources when we could find them. Either way, listen online or pop into the iTunes store and get U some education!
	“The Craft of Science Fiction” By Joe Haldeman iTunes U download or 1 RealAudio file – 1 Hour 47 Minutes – [LECTURE] University: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Released: Nov. 2006 A lecture by MIT professor (and Science Fiction legend) Joe Haldeman.
	“Nano-Ethics through the writing of Science Fiction” By Rosalyn W. Berne PhD. iTunes U download or 1 MP3 – 54 Minutes – [LECTURE] University: Arizona State University Released: May 2007 Berne is Associate Professor at the University of Virginia.
	4 Tolkien Lectures By John G. West, Janet Blumberg, Peter Kreeft & Joseph Pearce iTunes U downloads & 1 Mp3 – Approx. 3 Hours 16 Minutes [LECTURES] University: Seattle Pacific University Released: 2001 Lectures included: Tolkien 1 of 4: “The Lord Of The Rings as a Defense of Western Civilization” by John G. West Tolkien 2 of 4: “Literary Background of The Lord Of The Rings” by Janet Blumberg Tolkien 3 of 4: “Wartime Wisdom: Ten Uncommon Insights from The Lord Of The Rings about Evil” by Peter Kreeft \|MP3\| Tolkien 4 of 4: “Tolkein, Man and Myth”* by Joseph Pearce * Please note, Tolkien’s name is spelled wrong in the 4th lecture’s title, be sure to enter the title as it appear above in the iTunes search.

posted by Jesse Willis