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New Tolkien Journal – Waymeet

A brand new Tolkien journal, Waymeet, has been announced. The online journal is aimed at providing resources for teachers to help them teach about Tolkien’s works in a post-secondary education environment.

The digital journal already features syllabuses, class exercises and assignments, links to online resources and a bibliography of published works relating to the teaching of Tolkien. It is hoped over the coming months and years that all of these will be expanded and will also include articles and example class handouts.

The editorial board is led by Leslie A. Donovan whilst Yvette Kisor, Kristine Larsen, Robin Anne Reid and Brian Walter all sit on the board. The journal has already had contributions from Verlyn Flieger, Jane Chance and Anna Smol.

Their press release states:

Waymeet is a publicly accessible, nonprofit, digital journal devoted to sharing pedagogical resources and research for teaching the works and life of J. R. R. Tolkien at the post-secondary school level. It began as an outgrowth of the ideas and methods discussed in Approaches to Teaching Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Other Works (MLA Approaches to Teaching World Literature series), edited by Leslie A. Donovan (forthcoming August 2015), but became an independent project when contributors to the collection realized the need for practical teaching resources on Tolkien’s works and life had evolved over the process of publishing the book and would continue to expand in the future. An initial version was launched in 2013, but only became publicly promoted in the summer of 2015.

All works published on Waymeet must be related to the teaching of J. R. R. Tolkien and/or his works and must have been developed by a teacher who has used it successfully in one or more college-level courses. Works submitted to Waymeet for publication are peer-reviewed by an Editorial Board whose members will determine their suitability for publication.

For more information visit the Waymeet website or email the editorial board on waymeetfortolkienteachers@gmail.com.

About the Author: Shaun Gunner
Shaun is the Chair of The Tolkien Society. First elected in 2013, Shaun has overseen the Society's expansion from 600 to 3,500 members. Shaun regularly speaks about adaptations of Tolkien's works and the future of Tolkien scholarship whilst passionately believing the Society needs to reach out to new audiences. In his spare time he can be found playing video games and Lego, or on Twitter. He chaired another charity, Mankind, and is a local councillor.