Mythmakers

As we approach the end of the year, we reach the end of Season 2 of our Mythmakers podcast. Today’s episode highlights this year’s most popular podcasts, hosted by Julia Golding and featuring our esteemed guests: A.J. Lancaster, T.A. White, Victoria Goddard, Lisa Edmonds and Kathrin Tordasi, as well as giving special mentions to many others who we were delighted to have on the show. Julia, and our...

Kathrin Tordasi is a prize-winning German writer whose first book for children, Bramble Fox, has just been translated into English by Cathrin Wirtz. Julia meets Kathrin to discuss everything from Welsh fairies, Shakespearian plays, Dark Lords, and the nature of evil! They go on to dig up some gems in the mines of German fantasy that we might have missed in English speaking world. And to help you w...

History has not remembered some fabulous women writers - even the woman who gave us the term 'fairy tale' to start with! Meet Madame D'Aulnoy and hear about her wonderful fairy tales and why author Claire O'Brien is retelling them now. Claire and Julia Golding broaden the conversation to discuss the power of fairy tales, how they have been selected and retold. Rediscovery of old ones without the f...

Julia Golding and Tolkien experts Jacob Rennaker and Paula Kalamaras hosted the second exclusive Readathon livestream event on completion of our latest Readathon, featuring The Silmarillion. Our participants tested their Tolkien knowledge in our quiz, we looked back at the past few weeks of our Readathon, and we announced our December Readathon topic! Watch now to find out what we'll be reading ne...

Sometimes fantasy stories define how we live our lives. Take Christmas. Dickens has been hugely responsible for our expectations of the season, not to mention the Christmas movie industry. Julia Golding takes a deep dive into the must-read fantasy ghost story, A Christmas Carol, and how Dickens designed and performed the story. She unpicks what makes it work. Have a listen and see if you agree. An...

Who would you cast to play you in the movie of your life? Mostly that's a fun game, but for Carolyn Weber it became a reality. Many people who come to Oxford to study leave changed by the experience. Carolyn Weber tells Julia Golding about her time in the city and how it inspired her to write her book Surprised by Oxford, a nod to CS Lewis' book Surprised by Joy. Carolyn goes on to tell us about t...

Listen to this past weekend's livestream hosted by Julia Golding and Tolkien experts Jacob Rennaker and Paula Kalamaras as they discuss the reaction to The Rings of Power series. We discussed various talking points and questions, including: What was the overall reaction to The Rings of Power? Was it worth watching/making? Did the creatives do a good job adapting the material they were given? And w...

Today we're re-releasing one of our most popular podcasts! Why is Oxford, England, such a fantasy hotspot? From Lewis Carroll to Philip Pullman, Diana Wynne-Jones to Deborah Harkness, it has inspired writers and is even the location for many fantasy stories. It is famously home of the Inklings whose leading figures, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, established two of the biggest fantasy worlds yet invented...

Who are our mythmakers in fantasy and sci-fi? In a new thread to this podcast, Julia Golding highlights her 'must-read' picks from the fantasy greats. Find out the reasons why you should try Frankenstein (1818) - the novel rather than any of the spin-off films you might've seen. Hear about the structure, the ideas, the state of science in the 1810s, the politics of rights - and so much more that h...

What's wrong and right so far in the Rings of Power? Are you enjoying the new series? Julia Golding checks in at halfway to discuss what's going on in the programme. What's annoying Tolkien purists? What shout-outs and praise can we give? Setting aside whether or not it sticks to Tolkien, how does it do as a piece of writing? Find out what's going on in the costume department - shoulders and skirt...

In Part Two, Julia Golding and Jacob Rennaker tackle the Second and Third Age, linking it to The Lord of the Rings and The Rings of Power. Jacob also recommends these web resources for readers wanting an even deeper dive. https://tolkienprofessor.com/lectures/courses/silmarillion-seminar/ https://theprancingponypodcast.com/category/podcast-episodes/the-silmarillion/ Visit http://oxfordcentreforfan...

This autumn/fall we are going to tackle The Silmarillion in our next readathon (visit http://oxfordcentreforfantasy.org for info!). Many readers who come to it from The Lord of the Rings find it a daunting book to get through. Julia Golding and Jacob Rennaker take you through what you can find in The Silmarillion, signposting those parts which link to the stories you might be following, such as Lo...

Come to our book launch celebration for James Nicol The Spell Tailors https://jamesnicolbooks.com A fun part of our online courses is that you get to be friends with fantasy writers who are publishing in today's market. We celebrate the arrival of the next book from one of our tutors - James Nicol. Listen to how he was inspired by the secret content of biscuit boxes and developed an original line...

Join us for our first reactions to the Amazon Prime The Rings of Power series. It's useful to orientate ourselves at the start of a series so Julia Golding takes us through what the four ages of Tolkien and where the Second Age fits. She then outlines the headline differences between the Tolkien material and how they've adapted it - suited to a general listener. Next, we go on to our discussion un...

We will know very soon what choices the showrunners for the upcoming Amazon series Rings of Power have taken but let's look at what we can glean about the story choices already. How do you cope with such a big gap in the timeline? Do you know your Celebrimbors from your Ar Pharazons - and what has Sauron got to do with it all? What about the featured characters - how do they relate to the original...

What are the myths and legends of the place where you live? Julia Golding meets Claire Fayers, author and reteller of Welsh myths and legends, also a tutor on the Oxford Centre for Fantasy Novel-in-a-Year course. Claire tells us about dragons and tappers in mines, as well as the stories that grow up about local landmarks. It is a process that can be seen even within a generation. Where does the dr...

What are the myths and legends of the place where you live? Julia Golding meets Claire Fayers, author and reteller of Welsh myths and legends, also a tutor on the Oxford Centre for Fantasy Novel-in-a-Year course. Claire tells us about dragons and tappers in mines, as well as the stories that grow up about local landmarks. It is a process that can be seen even within a generation. Where does the dr...

Responding to a listener's question about stone-giants in The Hobbit and more generally, Julia Golding, and friend of the OCF, Jacob Rennaker take a deep dive into all things gigantic. Did you know that ent originally meant 'giant'? Is there something about elemental giants going on in Middle Earth? Taking in Greek, Norse and Celtic traditions, as well as folklore, fairytale and fiction, we wander...

Responding to a listener's question about stone-giants in The Hobbit and more generally, Julia Golding, and friend of the OCF, Jacob Rennaker take a deep dive into all things gigantic. Did you know that ent originally meant 'giant'? Is there something about elemental giants going on in Middle Earth? Taking in Greek, Norse and Celtic traditions, as well as folklore, fairytale and fiction, we wander...

Part 2 of 2. Fantasy has been dominated by English language books - from LotR to Game of Thrones, you could be forgiven to thinking fantasy was some medieval other place in northern Europe. In this episode of Mythmakers Julia Golding talks to Daniel Seton, commissioning editor at the very interesting publishing house, Pushkin Press, winner of the Independent Publisher of the Year 2022 in the UK, w...

Part 1 of 2. Fantasy has been dominated by English language books - from LotR to Game of Thrones, you could be forgiven to thinking fantasy was some medieval other place in northern Europe. In this episode of Mythmakers Julia Golding talks to Daniel Seton, commissioning editor at the very interesting publishing house, Pushkin Press, winner of the Independent Publisher of the Year 2022 in the UK, w...

Ever wondered how to turn your college education into a best-selling series? Lisa Edmonds, once an English major who took courses in forensic criminology, has done just that, writing the wonderful Alice Worth Series. An Urban fantasy series with a mage PI, Alice moves in a world of magic, vampires and werewolves with her ghost sidekick Malcolm. Julia Golding Lisa discuss the path to publication, t...

Ever wondered how to turn your college education into a best-selling series? Lisa Edmonds, once an English major who took courses in forensic criminology, has done just that, writing the wonderful Alice Worth Series. An Urban fantasy series with a mage PI, Alice moves in a world of magic, vampires and werewolves with her ghost sidekick Malcolm. Julia Golding Lisa discuss the path to publication, t...

Part 2 - How can you find an original voice in fantasy? Discount code available. You wait for a listener to the podcast to suggest one to you, of course! Julia Golding is in conversation today with Victoria Goddard, a Canadian author who has imagined a big world of Astandalas and Zunidh and gone on to set different connected series in it. Each series has its own genre flavour. Victoria was influen...

How can you find an original voice in fantasy? Discount code available. You wait for a listener to the podcast to suggest one to you, of course! Julia Golding is in conversation today with Victoria Goddard, a Canadian author who has imagined a big world of Astandalas and Zunidh and gone on to set different connected series in it. Each series has its own genre flavour. Victoria was influenced by th...