In July 2005, the Silmarillion Writers' Guild came to life as its original moderators, Dawn Felagund and ford_of_bruinen, invited their friends to a new group intended to serve as a writers' workshop for creators of fanfiction based on The Silmarillion.
This coming July marks the twentieth anniversary of the Silmarillion Writers' Guild, a group that has expanded well beyond its modest origins and now hosts all types of fanworks from hundreds of creators and serves as a resource for information and discussion about the complex work that is the "Silmarillion." As we commemorate twenty years, we seek to bring together the creative and research arms of our group's mission with a daylong hybrid event that celebrates the incredible creative and scholarly responses of our members and the broader "Silmarillion" community.
The event will feature presentations of research and scholarship alongside fiction, art, and other creative responses to the topics addressed. Ideally, each topic will have a research work, a poem or story, and a work of art that respond to the topic and dialogue with each other, along with opportunities for attendees to ask questions and converse with the various creators and presenters.
The Basics
Date: July 19, 2025
Location: South Burlington Library Community Room, Burlington, Vermont, United States and online via Zoom
How to Follow This Event:
- Subscribe to the SWG's weekly newsletter
- Join our Discord server and watch the #announcements channel for updates
- Follow us on Tumblr
- Follow us on Dreamwidth
All Tolkien fans are welcome to join us as presenters, creators, and attendees! You do not need to be a member of the SWG to participate. How do you want to get involved?
- I want to present my research or scholarship.
- I want to create art, write a poem or story, or create another type of fanwork.
- I want to attend.
- I want to volunteer.
Call for Presenters for Research/Scholarship
Mereth Aderthad 2025 is seeking presentations of research and scholarship on all topics related to Tolkien. Presenters will deliver their presentations live, either in-person or virtually, at the event. Presentations should be fifteen minutes in length.
The SWG has long had a commitment to research and scholarship by Tolkien fans and a firm belief that fans not just contribute to the scholarly and academic conversations around Tolkien's work but offer perspectives that career academics often miss. We welcome academics and Tolkien scholars to submit, but we also want fans to feel equally welcome to present their research and ideas. Our moderator team—many of whom are experienced presenters themselves—are happy to support fans who want to share their work in crafting a proposal, paper, and presentation for the event.
Research and scholarship presentations will accompany fanworks created about the same topic. Presenters and fanworks creators may collaborate as much or as little as they wish.
The form for submitting a proposal to present your research or scholarship will be available soon. Follow us using one of the methods above or check this page for updates.
Call for Fanworks
Tolkien wrote eloquently of his desire to create a Secondary World that enticed readers beyond the words he placed on the page and into the "new vistas" that they imagined. Since at least the 1950s, Tolkien fans have been crafting stories, poems, art, music, crafts, and every other type of creative response imaginable as they seek these imaginative vistas. At the same time, fanworks creators have engaged with the deep questions and ideas that Tolkien's works provoke, using creative media instead of traditional scholarship to engage with the legendarium.
We are seeking creators interested in making fanworks for Mereth Aderthad 2025. These fanworks will match the topics and possibly respond to the research and scholarship being presented at the event. Ideally, each topic has a research/scholarly presentation, a story or poem, and a work of art, demonstrating the diverse ways that fans engage with the legendarium and the questions and ideas it poses.
We are seeking:
- Artwork
- Short stories that can be read in under ten minutes or excerpts from longer stories
- Poems
- Other fanworks that can be presented at an event like Mereth Aderthad 2025
Fanworks will be presented at the event. Creators do not need to present their own works. Writers who do not wish to present live can record their story or poem, we will arrange to have the story or poem read or recorded by someone else for the event.
All fanworks should be created for the event. We appreciate if fanworks are not posted prior to the event but hope you share them widely after they are presented on July 19!
When the call for presenters of research and scholarship closes, we will open the call for fanworks creators. At that time, writers, artists, and other creators will be matched with a researcher working on topic of interest to that creator. The research and various creators can collaborate as little or as much as they would like. Follow us using one of the methods above or check this page for updates.
Attending Mereth Aderthad 2025
Registration for the event will open once a draft schedule is available. In-person and virtual attendance options will be available. While we may solicit donations to help cover costs, we will turn no one away who wants to attend on the basis of their ability to donate. Follow us using one of the methods above or check this page for updates.
Mereth Aderthad 2025 will also include community meals and outings the weekend of the event for people able to attend in-person. More information will become available as the event approaches!
Volunteer for Mereth Aderthad 2025
We are seeking volunteers to both help plan Mereth Aderthad 2025 and help on the day of event, both in-person and remotely. If you are interested in volunteering, we recommend that you join our Discord and watch the #announcements channel for more information on how to get involved. You can also email the moderators or contact us via any of our social media platforms for more information.
