Shortlist
This year marks a new system for creating the shortlists for the four categories voted on my Tolkien Society Members. The new process of selecting the shortlists is intended to be more rigorous and transparent. This new process utilizes a separate panel for each award, consisting of a selection of trustees, prior winners, and category experts, based on availability, interest, and lack of conflict (e.g. cannot be nominated for this year). The nominees made by the public for each award are checked for eligibility prior to being considered for shortlisting. We have implemented a new eligibility rule this year, in that winners from the prior 3 years of an award are not eligible – i.e. for this year, the 2022, 2023 and 2024 winners were not eligible to be shortlisted for the 2025 award in the category that they previously won.
Best Artwork
There were 35 nominated works from 63 submissions this year. 7 works did not qualify (works from winners from the previous 3 years, works not published in 2024, and one AI generated work).
Panelists:
- Daniel Helen (trustee)
- Niamh Riordain (trustee)
- Neil Anderson (trustee)
- Mina Lukic (art historian)
- Maggie Percival (artist)
- Donato Giancola (artist, previous winner)
Shortlist:
- “Niggle’s Wet Bicycle Ride” by Matěj Čadil
- “The Hobbit” by Yifan Jia
- “Helm’s Deep” by Jay Johnstone
- “Arrival in the Shire” by Ted Nasmith
Best Article
There were 25 nominated articles from 35 submissions this year. 3 articles did not qualify (articles from winners from the previous 3 years).
Panelists:
- Will Sherwood (trustee)
- Jeremy Edmonds (trustee)
- Cait Coker (scholar)
- Thomas Honneger (scholar)
- Sara Brown (scholar, previous winner)
Shortlist:
- “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1953 W. P. Kerr Memorial Lecture: An Updated Chronology and Related Findings by Andoni Cossio and Dimitra Fimi (English Studies 105, #6)
- ““The Ghostly Language of the Ancient Earth”: Tolkien, Geology, and Romantic Lithology” by Nick Groom (The Romantic Spirit in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Will Sherwood and Julian Eilmann)
- “The Horror of the Unnarrated in The Lord of the Rings: Implications for Tolkien’s Reader” by Yvette Kisor (Mallorn 65, Winter 2024)
- ‘Beyond the Circles of the World’: The Meaning of Death and Immortality as Reflected in Tolkien’s ‘Incarnate’ Beings by Siobhán Maloney Latar, S.T.D. (Journal of Inklings Study 14 #2)
- Tolkien, “The Battle of Maldon,” and “The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth”: Poetic Allusions and the Eperience of Time by Anna Smol (Journal of Tolkien Research 20, #1)
Best Book
There were 17 nominated books from 107 submissions this year. 7 books did not qualify (not published in 2024).
Panelists:
- Jeremy Edmonds (trustee)
- Shaun Gunner (trustee)
- Luke Shelton (Mallorn editor)
- David Bratman (scholar, author, co-editor of Tolkien Studies, Guest of Honor of the Mythopoeic Conference 2022)
- Carl Hostetter (scholar, author, previous winner)
Shortlist:
- Cities and Strongholds of Middle-earth: Essays on the Habitations of Tolkien’s Legendarium ed. Cami D. Agan
- Mapping Middle-earth: Environmental and Political Narratives in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Cartographies by Anahit Behrooz
- The Romantic Spirit in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien ed. Will Sherwood and Julian Eilmann
- Tolkien and the Kalevala by Jyrki Korpua
- The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien ed Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond
- J.R.R. Tolkien: A Very Short Introduction by Matthew Townend
Best Online Content
There were 31 nominations in this category, from 46 submissions this year. 5 did not qualify (not published or active in 2024, winners from previous 3 years, and a TS event).
Panelists:
- Hannah McDonald (trustee)
- Niamh Riordain (trustee)
- Daniel Helen (trustee)
- Shawn Marchese (Prancing Pony Podcast, previous winner)
- Ben Olson (TolkienGateway.net, previous winner)
Shortlist:
- Ardacraft (www.ardacraft.me/)
- Athrabeth Podcast (podcast.athrabeth.com/)
- The Digital Tolkien Project (digitaltolkien.com)
- Tea with Tolkien (www.teawithtolkien.com/)
- An Unexpected Soundscape – The Hobbit (jordanrannells.com/shop/p/an-unexpected-soundscape)
Outstanding Contribution Award
The recipient of the Outstanding Contribution Award 2025 has been selected by the Trustees and will be announced in due course.
Voting
Every member will be able to vote once in each category via the Members’ Area of this website.
You have until midnight on Friday 25th April to vote.
If you’re not a member but would like to take part, join the Society now.
