#Kzoo2021 Report

𝔗he Tales after Tolkien Society continued its work at and around the online International Congress on Medieval Studies hosted by Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. For the 2021 iteration of the event, the Society sponsored and presented one paper session and conducted an online business meeting. Notes about each appear below.

The Session

The Society was pleased to sponsor session 77--Deadscapes: Wastelands, Necropoli, and Other Tolkien-Inspired Places of Death, Decay, and Corruption--at 4pm US Eastern Daylight Time on 10 May 2021. Society Vice-president (USA) Luke Shelton presided over the session; member Brian J. McFadden and Society President Geoffrey B. Elliott presented papers. McFadden, an associate professor of English at Texas Tech University, delivered a talk titled "'Beorhtnoth we bear, not Beowulf': Descriptive Restraint in The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm’s Son." Elliott presented "Sites of Memory in Robin Hobb's Elderlings Corpus." Discussion of both papers was lively and engaging, and attendees at the session were invited to attend the business meeting that followed.

The Meeting

Per §5.1 of the Society Constitution, an Annual General Meeting of the Society was held during the 2021 Congress, taking place online as hosted by Society Vice-president (USA) Luke Shelton and called to order at 7:10pm US Eastern Daylight Time. Society President Geoffrey B. Elliott presided; Rachel Sikorski, Society Secretary and Social Media Officer, took minutes. In attendance were the aforementioned officers, Brian J. McFadden, and Kris Swank.

Formal agenda items to be considered were

1. Election of the Society President for the term 2021-2024,
2. Determination of session offerings for the 2022 Congress, and
3. Concerns for general Society attention and consideration.

Regarding the election: there was one candidate, incumbent Geoffrey B. Elliott. As no other nominations to the position were offered, the incumbent was acclaimed to continue in office.

Regarding the session offerings for the 2022 Congress: three ideas were considered--Unconventional Medievalisms, Medievalism and Diversity, and Twenty-first Century Neo/Medievalisms. Discussion led to a focus on the latter two, with the decisions made to present Medievalism and Diversity as a paper session and Twenty-first Century Neo/Medievalisms as a roundtable. (Clarifications have been helpfully provided by Kris Swank.) The Society President will draft and submit required paperwork to the Congress; fuller CFPs are forthcoming.

Regarding the general concerns:

1. The Society President reiterated a call for submissions to the Society blog, exhorting attendees to submit and to recommend submission by others in their acquaintance, including those typically excluded from academic discourse. 
2. The Society decided not to attempt presentation at SWPCA in the coming year, membership having noted that the conference in question focuses in other areas than those typically treated by the Society.
3. The Society noted an opportunity to form a cohesive panel for the coming Tolkien Symposium. Vice-president Shelton noted that a call for papers is forthcoming; information about composing a session or pitching individual papers will follow after the call is made.
4. The Society encourages its members to submit papers for the coming online Mythcon. Information is available online.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:37pm, US Eastern Daylight Time.