Professor Dimitra Fimi
- Professor of Fantasy and Children's Literature (English Literature)
telephone:
01413305663
email:
Dimitra.Fimi@glasgow.ac.uk
4 University Gardens, School of Critical Studies, Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ
Research interests
Biography
Prof Dimitra Fimi joined the University of Glasgow in 2018 from her previous post at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Her first monograph, Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies. She co-edited the first critical “extended” edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s essay “A Secret Vice”, in which Tolkien theorizes his language invention (A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages, HarperCollins, 2016). The book won the Tolkien Society Award for Best Book. Her latest monograph, Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children’s Fantasy: Idealization, Identity, Ideology (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies.
She has published widely in journals and edited collections. She contributes regularly to radio and TV programmes (BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Wales, History Channel, BBC4). She co-edits the Perspectives on Fantasy book series (Bloomsbury). Many of her articles are available online via her website: http://dimitrafimi.com/
Interests
Fantasy Literature
Children's Literature
Children's Fantasy
J.R.R. Tolkien
Medievalism
Myth and Folklore
Invented Languages
Children's Literature and Science
Grants
Grants
AHRC Network Grant (£27,609): "Future Voices of Scottish Science Fiction and Fantasy" (2022-2023)
Chancellor's Fund (£1,500): "Fantasy and Puppetry: Animating the Fantastic". Open research and public engagement event in 2021.
GCRF-funded project (£17,496): “Illustrated children’s book on gravitational wave astronomy - promoting partnerships and education with local Indian communities” (LIGO India). Co-Investigator. Working with Dr Mariela Masso Reid (PI), Institute for Gravitational Research, University of Glasgow (2019)
College of Arts Strategic Research Allocation Fund (£2,000.50): Creative-non-fiction picturebook for primary-school children - stories about basic research (pilot for Wellcome Trust funding bid). Principal Investigator. Working with Dr Chris Cunningham (Swansea University), Ms Elizabeth Dulemba (professional illustrator), and Pirie Park Primary School, Glasgow (2019)
Welsh Crucible 2017 Grant Scheme (£9,862) for interdisciplinary research project titled: “Year of the Sea: assessing changes in marine ecosystems through literature, arts and law”. Co-investigators: Dr Ruth Callaway (Swansea University), Dr Amanda Rogers (Swansea University), Kerry Lewis (Aberystwyth University), Dr Sarah Pogoda (Bangor University).
Welsh Crucible 2017 Grant Scheme (£9,239) for interdisciplinary research project titled: “The world’s smallest book: showcasing the wonder of miniaturisation to engage with the public imagination”. Co-investigator: Dr Daryl Beggs (Cardiff University).
Welsh Crucible 2017 Grant Scheme (£4919) for interdisciplinary research project titled: “The Myth of the Inventor: Philip Vaughan”. Co-ivestigators: Stefano Barazza (University of South Wales), and Dr Davide Crivelli (Cardiff University)
Supervision
- Arvaniti, Maria
Otherworlds on Stage: Interweaving Dramaturgies in Fairy Fantasies - Borland Sinclair, Grace
Feminist Fabulations - Emanuel, Thomas Karl
The Tale We've Fallen Into - Swank, Kristine Ainsworth
Irish Mythology, Lit and Lang in works of JRR Tolkien - Worm, Grace Ann Thomas
Female Fantasy: Tamora Pierce’s Influence on Contemporary Fantasy
Supervision:
I have supervised PhDs on J.R.R. Tolkien and Fantasy Literature.
I am happy to consider proposals on any of the topics listed in my research interests.
Recently Completed PhDs Supervised:
Luke Shelton: ‘Small Hands Do Them Because They Must’: examining the reception of The Lord of the Rings among young readers (2020)
Penelope Holdaway: An Exploration of Tolkien’s Changing Vision of Faërie Through His Non-Middle-earth Poetry (2021)
Teaching
Teaching for 2020-2021
Children's Fantasy Literature (MLitt)
Additional information
Co-director of the University's Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic (https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/researchclusters/fanstasyatglasgow/)
Co-director of the University's Games and Gaming Lab (https://www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/artslab/labsandthemes/ourlabs/gamesandgaming/)
Member of the University’s Textual Editing Lab (https://www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/artslab/labs/textualeditinglab/)
Welsh Crucible Alumna (http://www.welshcrucible.org.uk/dimitra-fimi/)