about me
Welcome to QUEER AND BACK AGAIN! I’m Tom Emanuel (he/him), am a theologian, ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and a PhD researcher with the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow. My thesis project, “The Tale We’ve Fallen Into: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and the Post-Christian Quest for Meaning,” explores the reception of Tolkien’s fantasy masterpiece in the twenty-first century. If that sounds interesting to you, this newsletter may be for you!
Middle-earth is a load-bearing wall in the architecture of my imagination. My father read The Hobbit aloud to me when I was a baby, long before I knew anything about religion. Tolkien has profoundly shaped my sense of sacred story, and I love how his work can bring hope and wonder to so many readers, especially in the midst of climate catastrophe and the breakdown of the myths that have historically lent meaning to our lives. I am passionate about holding space for readers of any identity (including people of all faiths and no faith) to find themselves in Middle-earth and troubling our assumptions about Tolkien, religion, and fantasy literature.
about this newsletter
When I encounter something inspiring or infuriating or just plain interesting in my research—say, when I have thoughts and feelings about Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power—or when I have a theory about Tolkien, Miyazaki, and the aesthetics of Faërie that requires a little more space and nuance than your average microblogging platform allows—you can read about it here. This is also where I share news about conference presentations, publications, and other things of that nature. If you’re interested in learning more about my doctoral research or want to think with me about such diverse subjects as queer Hobbits, white supremacist appropriations of Middle-earth, and postdeluvian Númenórean theology, I hope you’ll consider subscribing!
My present research is funded by a U.K. Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) doctoral partnership with the Scottish Graduate School of Arts and Humanities (SGSAH). You can reach me at thomas.emanuel@glasgow.ac.uk.
The site banner is by the fabulous Laura Mabingi.
