Professor Dimitra Fimi

  • Professor of Fantasy and Children's Literature (English Literature)

telephone: 01413305663
email: Dimitra.Fimi@glasgow.ac.uk

4 University Gardens, School of Critical Studies, Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5018-3074

Research interests

Biography

Prof Dimitra Fimi joined the University of Glasgow in 2018 from her previous post at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Her first monograph, Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies. She co-edited the first critical “extended” edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s essay “A Secret Vice”, in which Tolkien theorizes his language invention (A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages, HarperCollins, 2016). The book won the Tolkien Society Award for Best Book. Her latest monograph, Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy: Idealization, Identity, Ideology (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies.

She has published widely in journals and edited collections. She contributes regularly to radio and TV programmes (BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Wales, History Channel, BBC4). She co-edits the Perspectives on Fantasy book series (Bloomsbury). Many of her articles are available online via her website: http://dimitrafimi.com/


Interests

Fantasy Literature
Children's Literature
Children's Fantasy
J.R.R. Tolkien
Medievalism
Myth and Folklore
Invented Languages
Children's Literature and Science

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005
Number of items: 28.

2023

Fimi, D. (2023) Fantasy worlds: crossing borders of otherness. In: Kirk, T. and Sangster, M. (eds.) Realms of Imagination: Essays from the Wide Worlds of Fantasy. British Library Publishing: London, pp. 206-224. ISBN 9780712354493

Fimi, D. and Sims, A. J.P. (Eds.) (2023) Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy. Series: Perspectives on fantasy. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350349995

2022

Fimi, D. (2022) Gnomes, gnature, and the “gnifty gnomobile”: elemental spirits, deforestation and energy systems in transition in Upton Sinclair’s the Gnomobile. Children’s Literature in Education, (doi: 10.1007/s10583-022-09507-7) (Early Online Publication)

2021

Fimi, D. and Kolovos, D. (Eds.) (2021) Επιδράσεις της Αρχαίας Ελληνικής Γραμματείας στο Έργο του Τζ.Ρ.Ρ. Τόλκιν = Echoes of Ancient Greek Literature in the Work of J.R.R. Tolkien. Kedros: Athens. ISBN 9789600451818

2020

Fimi, D. (2020) Fantastic Languages - The Language of the Fantastic. Series: Fastitocalon: Studies in Fantasticism Ancient to Modern (IX, Issue 1&2). Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier. ISBN 9783868218749

2019

Fimi, D. (2019) Fantasies of space and time. In: Ming Kong, M., do Rosário Monteiro, M. and Pereira Neto, M. J. (eds.) Intelligence, Creativity and Fantasy. Series: PHI. CRC Press, pp. 13-20. ISBN 9780367277192 (doi: 10.1201/9780429297755)

Beggs, D. and Fimi, D. (2019) Tiny Treasures: Miniature Books from Scotland and Beyond. [Exhibitions]

Fimi, D. and Honegger, T. (Eds.) (2019) Sub-creating Arda: World-building in J.R.R. Tolkien's Works, its Precursors, and Legacies. Series: Cormarë series. Walking Tree Publishers: Zurich. ISBN 9783905703405

Beggs, D. and Fimi, D. (2019) Tiny Alice Project: The smallest ever reproduction of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with letters measuring in nanometers. [Website]

2018

Fimi, D. (2018) Language as communication vs. language as art: J.R.R. Tolkien and early 20th-century radical linguistic experimentation. Journal of Tolkien Research, 5(1), 2.

2017

Fimi, D. (2017) ‘Tears are the very wine of blessedness’: joyful sorrow in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In: Helen, D. (ed.) Death and Immortality in Middle-earth: Proceedings of The Tolkien Society Seminar 2016. Luna Press Publishing. ISBN 9781911143338

Fimi, D. (2017) Tolkien’s Arda. In: Wolf, M. J.P. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds. Series: Routledge companions. Routledge: New York, NY, pp. 377-384. ISBN 9781138638914

Fimi, D. and Higgins, A. (2017) Invented languages. In: WOlf, M. J.P. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds. Series: Routledge companions. Routledge: New York, NY, pp. 21-29. ISBN 9781138638914

Fimi, D. (2017) Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy: Idealization, Identity, Ideology. Series: Critical approaches to children's literature. Palgrave Macmillan: London. ISBN 9781137552815 (doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-55282-2)

2016

Fimi, D. (2016) The past as an imaginary world: the case of medievalism. In: Wolf, M. J.P. (ed.) Revisiting Imaginary Worlds: A Subcreation Studies Anthology. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, pp. 46-68. ISBN 9781138942059

Tolkien, J.R.R., Fimi, D. and Higgins, A.(Eds.) (2016) A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages. [Scholarly Editions]

Crofts, T. H. and Fimi, D. (2016) Hippotes ho Presbutes: The Old Knight: An edition of the Greek Arthurian poem of Vat. gr. 1822. In: Archibald, E. and Johnson, D. F. (eds.) Arthurian Literature XXXIII. Boydell & Brewer, pp. 158-218.

2015

Fimi, D. (2015) Teaching race and cultures in Tolkien's works. In: Donovan, L. A. (ed.) Approaches to Teaching Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Other Works. Series: Approaches to teaching world literature (136). The Modern Language Association of America: New York. ISBN 9781603292054

2014

Fimi, D. (2014) Later fantasy fiction. In: Lee, S. D. (ed.) A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien. Series: Blackwell companions to literature and culture. Wiley Blackwell: Malden, MA, pp. 335-349. ISBN 9780470659823

2013

Fimi, D. (2013) 'Wildman of the Woods': inscribing tragedy on the landscape of Middle-earth in The Children of Húrin. In: Conrad-O'Briain, H. and Hynes, G. (eds.) Tolkien: The Forest and the City. Four Courts Press: Dublin, pp. 43-56. ISBN 9781846824296

2012

Fimi, D. (2012) Between Greece and Northwestern Europe: the fairy tales of Penelope Delta. In: Chen, F. and Honegger, T. (eds.) The European Tradition of the Fantastic. Series: Fastitocalon (2). WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag: Trier, pp. 97-112. ISBN 9783868213607

Fimi, D. (2012) Tolkien and the fantasy tradition. In: Whitehead, C. (ed.) The Fantastic (Critical Insights). Salem Press: Ipswich, Mass.. ISBN 9781429837354

2011

Fimi, D. (2011) Filming folklore: adapting fantasy for the big screen through Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. In: Bogstad, J. M. and Kaveny, P. E. (eds.) Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers: Jefferson, N.C., pp. 84-103. ISBN 9780786446360

2008

Fimi, D. (2008) Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits. Palgrave Macmillan: New York. ISBN 9780230219519

2007

Fimi, D. (2007) Tolkien’s “‘Celtic’ type of legends”: merging traditions. Tolkien Studies, 4, pp. 51-71. (doi: 10.1353/tks.2007.0015)

Fimi, D. (2007) Tolkien and old Norse antiquity: real and romantic links in material culture. In: Clark, D. and Phelpstead, C. (eds.) Old Norse Made New: Essays on the Post-Medieval Reception of Old Norse Literature and Culture. Viking Society for Northern Research: London. ISBN 9780903521765

2006

Fimi, D. (2006) "Mad Elves" and "Elusive Beauty": some Celtic strands of Tolkien’s mythology. Folklore, 117(2), pp. 156-170. (doi: 10.1080/00155870600707847)

2005

Fimi, D. (2005) "Come sing ye light fairy things tripping so gay”: Victorian fairies and the early work of J. R. R. Tolkien. Working with English: Medieval and Modern Language, Literature and Drama, 2, pp. 10-26.

This list was generated on Thu Apr 18 15:47:43 2024 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Books | Book Sections | Edited Books | Scholarly Editions | Exhibitions | Website
Number of items: 28.

Articles

Fimi, D. (2022) Gnomes, gnature, and the “gnifty gnomobile”: elemental spirits, deforestation and energy systems in transition in Upton Sinclair’s the Gnomobile. Children’s Literature in Education, (doi: 10.1007/s10583-022-09507-7) (Early Online Publication)

Fimi, D. (2018) Language as communication vs. language as art: J.R.R. Tolkien and early 20th-century radical linguistic experimentation. Journal of Tolkien Research, 5(1), 2.

Fimi, D. (2007) Tolkien’s “‘Celtic’ type of legends”: merging traditions. Tolkien Studies, 4, pp. 51-71. (doi: 10.1353/tks.2007.0015)

Fimi, D. (2006) "Mad Elves" and "Elusive Beauty": some Celtic strands of Tolkien’s mythology. Folklore, 117(2), pp. 156-170. (doi: 10.1080/00155870600707847)

Fimi, D. (2005) "Come sing ye light fairy things tripping so gay”: Victorian fairies and the early work of J. R. R. Tolkien. Working with English: Medieval and Modern Language, Literature and Drama, 2, pp. 10-26.

Books

Fimi, D. (2017) Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy: Idealization, Identity, Ideology. Series: Critical approaches to children's literature. Palgrave Macmillan: London. ISBN 9781137552815 (doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-55282-2)

Fimi, D. (2008) Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits. Palgrave Macmillan: New York. ISBN 9780230219519

Book Sections

Fimi, D. (2023) Fantasy worlds: crossing borders of otherness. In: Kirk, T. and Sangster, M. (eds.) Realms of Imagination: Essays from the Wide Worlds of Fantasy. British Library Publishing: London, pp. 206-224. ISBN 9780712354493

Fimi, D. (2019) Fantasies of space and time. In: Ming Kong, M., do Rosário Monteiro, M. and Pereira Neto, M. J. (eds.) Intelligence, Creativity and Fantasy. Series: PHI. CRC Press, pp. 13-20. ISBN 9780367277192 (doi: 10.1201/9780429297755)

Fimi, D. (2017) ‘Tears are the very wine of blessedness’: joyful sorrow in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In: Helen, D. (ed.) Death and Immortality in Middle-earth: Proceedings of The Tolkien Society Seminar 2016. Luna Press Publishing. ISBN 9781911143338

Fimi, D. (2017) Tolkien’s Arda. In: Wolf, M. J.P. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds. Series: Routledge companions. Routledge: New York, NY, pp. 377-384. ISBN 9781138638914

Fimi, D. and Higgins, A. (2017) Invented languages. In: WOlf, M. J.P. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds. Series: Routledge companions. Routledge: New York, NY, pp. 21-29. ISBN 9781138638914

Fimi, D. (2016) The past as an imaginary world: the case of medievalism. In: Wolf, M. J.P. (ed.) Revisiting Imaginary Worlds: A Subcreation Studies Anthology. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, pp. 46-68. ISBN 9781138942059

Crofts, T. H. and Fimi, D. (2016) Hippotes ho Presbutes: The Old Knight: An edition of the Greek Arthurian poem of Vat. gr. 1822. In: Archibald, E. and Johnson, D. F. (eds.) Arthurian Literature XXXIII. Boydell & Brewer, pp. 158-218.

Fimi, D. (2015) Teaching race and cultures in Tolkien's works. In: Donovan, L. A. (ed.) Approaches to Teaching Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Other Works. Series: Approaches to teaching world literature (136). The Modern Language Association of America: New York. ISBN 9781603292054

Fimi, D. (2014) Later fantasy fiction. In: Lee, S. D. (ed.) A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien. Series: Blackwell companions to literature and culture. Wiley Blackwell: Malden, MA, pp. 335-349. ISBN 9780470659823

Fimi, D. (2013) 'Wildman of the Woods': inscribing tragedy on the landscape of Middle-earth in The Children of Húrin. In: Conrad-O'Briain, H. and Hynes, G. (eds.) Tolkien: The Forest and the City. Four Courts Press: Dublin, pp. 43-56. ISBN 9781846824296

Fimi, D. (2012) Between Greece and Northwestern Europe: the fairy tales of Penelope Delta. In: Chen, F. and Honegger, T. (eds.) The European Tradition of the Fantastic. Series: Fastitocalon (2). WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag: Trier, pp. 97-112. ISBN 9783868213607

Fimi, D. (2012) Tolkien and the fantasy tradition. In: Whitehead, C. (ed.) The Fantastic (Critical Insights). Salem Press: Ipswich, Mass.. ISBN 9781429837354

Fimi, D. (2011) Filming folklore: adapting fantasy for the big screen through Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. In: Bogstad, J. M. and Kaveny, P. E. (eds.) Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers: Jefferson, N.C., pp. 84-103. ISBN 9780786446360

Fimi, D. (2007) Tolkien and old Norse antiquity: real and romantic links in material culture. In: Clark, D. and Phelpstead, C. (eds.) Old Norse Made New: Essays on the Post-Medieval Reception of Old Norse Literature and Culture. Viking Society for Northern Research: London. ISBN 9780903521765

Edited Books

Fimi, D. and Sims, A. J.P. (Eds.) (2023) Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy. Series: Perspectives on fantasy. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350349995

Fimi, D. and Kolovos, D. (Eds.) (2021) Επιδράσεις της Αρχαίας Ελληνικής Γραμματείας στο Έργο του Τζ.Ρ.Ρ. Τόλκιν = Echoes of Ancient Greek Literature in the Work of J.R.R. Tolkien. Kedros: Athens. ISBN 9789600451818

Fimi, D. (2020) Fantastic Languages - The Language of the Fantastic. Series: Fastitocalon: Studies in Fantasticism Ancient to Modern (IX, Issue 1&2). Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier. ISBN 9783868218749

Fimi, D. and Honegger, T. (Eds.) (2019) Sub-creating Arda: World-building in J.R.R. Tolkien's Works, its Precursors, and Legacies. Series: Cormarë series. Walking Tree Publishers: Zurich. ISBN 9783905703405

Scholarly Editions

Tolkien, J.R.R., Fimi, D. and Higgins, A.(Eds.) (2016) A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages. [Scholarly Editions]

Exhibitions

Beggs, D. and Fimi, D. (2019) Tiny Treasures: Miniature Books from Scotland and Beyond. [Exhibitions]

Website

Beggs, D. and Fimi, D. (2019) Tiny Alice Project: The smallest ever reproduction of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with letters measuring in nanometers. [Website]

This list was generated on Thu Apr 18 15:47:43 2024 BST.

Grants

Grants

AHRC Network Grant (£27,609): "Future Voices of Scottish Science Fiction and Fantasy" (2022-2023)

Chancellor's Fund (£1,500): "Fantasy and Puppetry: Animating the Fantastic". Open research and public engagement event in 2021.

GCRF-funded project (£17,496): “Illustrated children’s book on gravitational wave astronomy - promoting partnerships and education with local Indian communities” (LIGO India). Co-Investigator. Working with Dr Mariela Masso Reid (PI), Institute for Gravitational Research, University of Glasgow (2019)

College of Arts Strategic Research Allocation Fund (£2,000.50): Creative-non-fiction picturebook for primary-school children - stories about basic research (pilot for Wellcome Trust funding bid). Principal Investigator. Working with Dr Chris Cunningham (Swansea University), Ms Elizabeth Dulemba (professional illustrator), and Pirie Park Primary School, Glasgow (2019)

Welsh Crucible 2017 Grant Scheme (£9,862) for interdisciplinary research project titled: “Year of the Sea: assessing changes in marine ecosystems through literature, arts and law”. Co-investigators: Dr Ruth Callaway (Swansea University), Dr Amanda Rogers (Swansea University), Kerry Lewis (Aberystwyth University), Dr Sarah Pogoda (Bangor University). 

Welsh Crucible 2017 Grant Scheme (£9,239) for interdisciplinary research project titled: “The world’s smallest book: showcasing the wonder of miniaturisation to engage with the public imagination”. Co-investigator: Dr Daryl Beggs (Cardiff University). 

Welsh Crucible 2017 Grant Scheme (£4919) for interdisciplinary research project titled: “The Myth of the Inventor: Philip Vaughan”. Co-ivestigators: Stefano Barazza (University of South Wales), and Dr Davide Crivelli (Cardiff University)

 

Supervision

Supervision:

I have supervised PhDs on J.R.R. Tolkien and Fantasy Literature.
I am happy to consider proposals on any of the topics listed in my research interests.

Recently Completed PhDs Supervised:

Luke Shelton: ‘Small Hands Do Them Because They Must’: examining the reception of The Lord of the Rings among young readers (2020)

Penelope Holdaway: An Exploration of Tolkien’s Changing Vision of Faërie Through His Non-Middle-earth Poetry (2021)

 

 

Teaching

Teaching for 2020-2021

Children's Fantasy Literature (MLitt)

Additional information

 

Co-director of the University's Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic (https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/researchclusters/fanstasyatglasgow/)

Co-director of the University's Games and Gaming Lab (https://www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/artslab/labsandthemes/ourlabs/gamesandgaming/)

Member of the University’s Textual Editing Lab (https://www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/artslab/labs/textualeditinglab/)

Welsh Crucible Alumna (http://www.welshcrucible.org.uk/dimitra-fimi/)


Dimitra Fimicropped