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TOLKIEN SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP - NEWSLETTER OF AMERICAN MENSA

Editor: Nancy Martsch, P.O. Box 55372, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413: [email protected]
The contents of the publication represent the opinions of writers and not of Mensa, which has no opinions.
$17 per year (12 issues), Foreign $22, Electronic, $10. (PayPal: add 50 cents USA, $1 foreign.)
Make checks in US$ payable to Nancy Martsch. Make PayPal payment to [email protected]
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"Beyond Bree" 2024 Calendar Available for Pre-Orders

beyond bree 2025 calendar

BEYOND BREE is happy to announce its 2025 CALENDAR

Tolkienian Scenes from Middle-earth and Beyond
Images inspired by his poems and writings from artists from around the globe such as Emily Austin, Matěj Čadil, Anke Eissmann, Miriam Ellis, Ergo, Spiros Gelekas, Christopher Gilson, Octo Kwan, Ruth Lacon, Wenjin Lu, Ted Nasmith, Gordon Palmer, and Kip Rasmussen.

The color and black and white calendar is 11 x 8 1/2 inches, opening to 11 x 17 inches. It has both Middle-earth and real world holidays.

Pricing: $20 plus shipping - USA $3, the rest of the world $7.
For large orders, please inquire for details.

For PayPal orders please add $1.00. Send payment (in USD) to: [email protected] (this is a name, not a link). Send check or money order (in USD drawn on a US bank) payable to: Nancy Martsch, PO Box 55372, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413, USA. You may send US currency, at your own risk, in a sturdy envelope.

Please include your shipping address with your order.

For more information please e-mail: [email protected]

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"Beyond Bree" Nominated for Tolkien Society Award!

"Letting Images Speak for Themselves: Tolkien's Rebus Letter to Fr. Francis Morgan, August 8, 1904" by Denis Bridoux, in the October 2020 issue of "Beyond Bree", has been nominated as "Best Article" for the 2021 Tolkien Society Award. The article (without Tolkien's original art) can be read online here, along with the November article with the answer to the rebus and some additional commentary.

"Beyond Bree" reproduces the entire letter, all together for the first time, in colour, along with its history and commentary by Bridoux. (McIlwaine's Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth and the Tolkien Family Album each reproduced only a single page, the latter in black and white.)

The November 2020 issue contains solutions to the rebus riddle.
 

Beyond Bree is published once a month. A typical issue is 12 pages long, contains short articles on J.R.R. Tolkien and his works; reviews of books, games, films, events by, about, or inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien and his works; reviews of books, games, films, events by, about, or inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien and his works, and general fantasy which might be of interest to the Tolkien fan. Also readers' views; fan publications, news, art, occasional poetry and puzzles. We seldom publish fiction. Since we are too widely scattered to meet in person, Beyond Bree carries news of conventions and gatherings where the Tolkien fan might find others of similar interests. And, if readers have questions about Tolkien or his works, we try to answer them.

 

Beyond Bree Flyer - Beyond Bree Author Guidelines - Beyond Bree Milestones - Beyond Bree History - Bree Moot History

Sample Article - Sample Book Review - About Mensa

Back Issue Index: March 1981 to February 1991March 1991 to February 2001March 2001 to February 2011March 2011 to November 2020

.

 

Supplementary Art for
the 2010 Green Issue

Supplementary Art for
the September 2010 Issue

 

A Tribute to Tom Loback, 1949-2015

Cover Art in Color for the Front Page from the April 2015 Issue of "Beyond Bree"

Tom Loback's Contributions to "Beyond Bree": Illustrations and Essays

 

Dating Middle-Earth Using Astronomy by James Strom

An Essay with Astronomical Illustrations from the June 2015 Issue of "Beyond Bree"

 

"The Return of the Ring" - August 16 to 20, 2012
Loughborough University, Loughborough, England

Following the success of Tolkien 2005, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings, the Tolkien Society has organized another international conference marking the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit. The JRR Tolkien Special Interest Group of American Mensa, publishers of "Beyond Bree," will participate in this conference. We will present the "Beyond Bree" Awards and sponsor a panel on "Illustrating Tolkien: Artists' Roundtable."

 Mark Hooker Receives the "Beyond Bree" Award!

Mark Hooker is the recipient of the fifth "Beyond Bree" Award, given at the international Tolkien conference "The Return of the Ring" August, 2012, in Loughborough, England.

Honorable Mention goes to Phil Goss and Dinah Hazell.

The "Beyond Bree" Award is given "In recognition of outstanding contribution to the study of JRR Tolkien, from the Readers of 'Beyond Bree.'" The Award itself is a handsome framed certificate signed by "Beyond Bree" members.

Mark Hooker is the author of Tolkien Through Russian Eyes, A Tolkienian Mathomium, The Hobbitonian Anthology, and most recently, Tolkien and Welsh.

Phil Goss runs the website, "The Compleat Gyde to Tolkien Calendars", www.tolkiencalendars.com. Dinah Hazell is the author of The Plants of Middle-earth.

The first "Beyond Bree" Awards were presented at Bree Moot 4/ Mythcon XXX at Milwaukee, WI, in 1999. The recipients were Charles Elston and Dr Richard E Blackwelder. The second Awards were given at Bree Moot 5 at St Paul, MN, in 2002, to Richard and Perri West and Gary and Sylvia Hunnewell. The third Awards were presented October 2004 at Bree Banquet, in Milwaukee, WI, to René van Rossenberg and Mike Foster. The fourth Awards were given at Tolkien 2005 in Birmingham, England, to David & Dorothea Salo, Wayne Hammond & Christina Scull, and Anthony Burdge & Jessica Burke.

 "Illustrating Tolkien: Artists' Roundtable" at "The
Return of the Ring" 2012

The JRR Tolkien Special Interest Group of American Mensa will sponsor "Illustrating Tolkien: Artists' Roundtable," with Nancy Martsch (moderator), and panelists Anke Eissmann, Octo Kwan, Ruth Lacon, Jef Murray, and Ted Nasmith.

"This will be a roundtable discussion by a panel of professional and fan artists on the many aspects of illustrating Tolkien's work. Topics may range from philosophy of art to practical considerations, including different approaches to Tolkien's work, the importance of fidelity to the text, abstraction vs. realism, styles of Tolkien illustration, history of Tolkien illustration, Tolkien's art, the panelists' own work, etc. Audience participation is encouraged."


Tolkien 2005 - August 11 to 15, 2005
Aston University, Birmingham, England

In the summer of 2005 Tolkien societies from around the world gathered in Birmingham, England, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings. The Tolkien Special Interest Group of American Mensa, publishers of "Beyond Bree," will be one of these groups. We presented the "Beyond Bree" Awards and sponsored a Panel, "After the Movie: Tolkien Fandom and Scholarship."



 "Beyond Bree" Editor named Fan Guest of Honor
at "The Return of the Ring" 2012

Nancy Martsch, Editor of "Beyond Bree," will give a presentation on "Thirty Years of Tolkien Fandom" at "The Return of the Ring."

 

"Beyond Bree" celebrates its 30th Anniversary in March 2011

"Beyond Bree," newsletter of the JRR Tolkien Special Interest Group of American Mensa, celebrated its 30th Anniversary in March, 2011, with a special oversize full-colour issue, featuring a cover illustration by Ted Nasmith. Copies are still available.

 The Tolkien 2005 Panel Discussion

"After the Movie: Tolkien Fandom and Scholarship"

The sponsor of this panel discussion was the Tolkien Special Interest Group of American Mensa (newsletter, "Beyond Bree"). The moderator was Nancy Martsch and the panelists were Mike Foster, Gary Hunnewell, and others.

"Peter Jackson's film has had an enormous impact on the public perception of Tolkien's world: from the production of children's toys to the publication of Tolkien books, from internet chat groups to scholarly conferences -- how has all this affected Tolkien studies and fandom? Join us for a lively discussion with the members of the 'Beyond Bree' panel."


 
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