We are delighted to share that the 2026 Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature will be delivered by the award-winning fantasy and science-fiction author Brandon Sanderson.

The lecture will take place on Tuesday, 19 May at 6:00 pm, at Oxford Town Hall.

Tickets will be released on Eventbrite on Thursday, 19 March at 12:00 pm. The event is free to the public, but tickets are required. We will share the link to the Eventbrite here, on our website, and across our social media at that time.

For those unable to attend, the lecture will be recorded and available to view after the event on our YouTube channel. We are generously supported by Pembroke College, the Pembroke Pink Grant, and the Kadas Family Charitable Foundation.

About the Speaker

Brandon Sanderson grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He lives in Utah with his wife and children and teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. In addition to completing Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, he is the author of such bestsellers as the Mistborn saga, Warbreaker, the Stormlight Archive series beginning with The Way of Kings, The Rithmatist, the Skyward series, the Reckoners series beginning with Steelheart, and the Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series. He won the 2013 Hugo Award for The Emperor’s Soul, a novella set in the world of his acclaimed first novel, Elantris.

We are pleased to announce that audio recordings from the Tolkien Lecture archive are now available on Spotify as the J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture Podcast. Whether rediscovering an old favourite lecture or listening for the first time, we hope you enjoy hearing our speakers’ fantastic insights via a new medium!

Find the podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3RA1OGfF3zS14BSwS0N1RY?si=E18tBm53SXWHoVgH06ea0A&nd=1&dlsi=971a4dfff2934e16.

On 19 May 2025, Zen Cho delivered the 2025 Tolkien Lecture, on ‘The Uses of Fantasy’. The full recording is now available to view on our YouTube channel. We hope you enjoy this truly fantastic lecture!

The annual J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature seeks to promote the study of fantasy literature by making access to its lectures available to audiences from around the world. 

We are immensely grateful to the Pembroke Pink Grant Scheme, the Kadas Foundation, and of course, the support of lecture attendees over the years. Thanks also to the Events, Catering, and Communications teams at Pembroke College.

Tickets are now available for the 2025 Tolkien Lecture, to be delivered by Zen Cho!

Visit Eventbrite to reserve your seat: https://tinyurl.com/2025TolkienLecture.

The lecture will be held on Monday 19 May at 6:00 pm, in the Pichette Auditorium, Pembroke College, Oxford.

The Tolkien Lecture is free of charge, but tickets are required for entry. An optional donation of £10 goes toward the costs of running the lecture and will help us keep the event free for the public in future years. All donations are greatly appreciated.

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About the Speaker

Zen Cho was born and raised in Malaysia, and lives in the UK. She writes fantasy and romance. Her titles include the Sorcerer to the Crown historical fantasy novels and Malaysian contemporary fantasy Black Water Sister, as well as the Lambda Award-nominated novella The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, and a short story collection, Spirits Abroad. Her newest novels, The Friend Zone Experiment and Behind Frenemy Lines, are contemporary romances set among London’s East and Southeast Asian community.

Zen is a winner of the Hugo, Crawford and British Fantasy Awards and the LA Times Ray Bradbury Prize, as well as a finalist for the World Fantasy, Ignyte, Locus, Astounding, Kitschies and Diverse Book Awards. Her short fiction has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Finnish, Chinese and Japanese. She has spoken at literary festivals and conventions, taught creative writing and appeared on radio, and was once a model in a campaign for a global luxury make-up brand, chosen specifically for her accomplishments rather than her looks.

When she isn’t writing, Zen works as a lawyer. She enjoys cooking and baking, reading, gossip and travel.

Photo © Ilona Denton.