The Mythopoeic Society (MythSoc) is an US non-profit anglocentric organization devoted to the study of mythopoeic literature („mythopoeic”, pronounced myth-oh-PEE-ick, means “pertaining to myths” aka fantastic literature), particularly the works of the british J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and C. S. Lewis, all members of The Inklings, an informal group of writers who met weekly in C.S. Lewis’ rooms at Magdalen College, Oxford (England), from the early 1930s through late 1949.

“By reading and being absorbed in fantasy, we’re not deserting the real world. We’re trying to make it better by opening up newer and higher vistas.” – Glen Howard GoodKnight II

The Mythopoeic Society was founded in 1967 by Glen Howard Goodknight II (Los Angeles, 1941 – Monterey Park, 2010), an US elementary school teacher (Los Angeles’ Union Avenue Elementary School). His family name appeared invented (GoodKnight), but it was only translated : „Goodknight” is the anglicisation  of the german “Gutknecht” family name.  Glen Howard Goodknight II founded “Mythlore”, the society’s scholarly journal that started out as a fan magazine in 1969, and served as its editor for most of the next 30 years. He also instituted a monthly news bulletin called “Mythprint”.

Originally composed of discussion groups based in the Los Angeles area, the Mythopoeic Society expanded to include organized branches across North America; in 1972 it assimilated the Tolkien Society of America. Membership is open to those who read, study, or write in the genres of myth and fantasy.

Since 1971 the Mythopoeic Society has bestowed a series of annual awards to outstanding works. In 1991 the literary award was broken into two categories: the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature.

The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature is given to the fantasy novel, multi-volume, or single-author story collection for adults published during 2015 that best exemplifies the spirit of the Inklings. Books are eligible for two years after publication if not selected as a finalist during the first year of eligibility. Books from a series are eligible if they stand on their own; otherwise, the series becomes eligible the year its final volume appears.

The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature honors books for beginning readers to age thirteen, in the tradition of The Hobbit or The Chronicles of Narnia. Rules for eligibility are otherwise the same as for the Adult literature award. The question of which award a borderline book is best suited for will be decided by consensus of the committees. Books for mature “Young Adults” may be moved to the Adult literature category.

The Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies is given to books on Tolkien, Lewis, and/or Williams that make significant contributions to Inklings scholarship. For this award, books first published during the last three years (2013–2015) are eligible, including finalists for previous years.

The Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies is given to scholarly books on other specific authors in the Inklings tradition, or to more general works on the genres of myth and fantasy. The period of eligibility is three years, as for the Inklings Studies award.

The winners of this year’s awards will be announced during Mythcon 47, to be held from August 5-8, 2016, at San Antonio, TX.  A complete list of Mythopoeic Award winners is available on the Society web site: Awards.

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature

• Kazuo Ishiguro, The Buried Giant (UK)
• Holly Black, The Darkest Part of the Forest (US)
• E.K. Johnston, A Thousand Nights (Canada)
• Naomi Novik, Uprooted (US)
• Daniel José Older, Shadowshaper (US)

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature

• Cassie Beasley, Circus Mirandus (US)
• Robert Beatty, Serafina and The Black Cloak (US)
• Sarah Beth Durst, The Girl Who Could Not Dream (US)
• Terry Pratchett, Tiffany Aching Series: Wee Free Men; Hat Full of Sky; Wintersmith; I Shall Wear Midnight; The Shepherd’s Crown (UK)
• Ursula Vernon, Castle Hangnail (US)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies

• Verlyn Flieger, ed. The Story of Kullervo by J.R.R. Tolkien (HarperCollins, 2015)
• Grevel Lindop , Charles Williams: The Third Inkling (Oxford Univ. Press, 2015)
• Alistair E. McGrath, C. S. Lewis—A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet (Tyndale House, 2013)
• Abigail Santamaria, Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman Who Captivated C.S. Lewis (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015)
• Christopher Tolkien, ed., Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary Together with Sellic Spell by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin, 2014)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies

• Stefan Ekman, Here Be Dragons: Exploring Fantasy Maps and Settings (Wesleyan Univ. Press, 2013)
• Daniel Gabelman, George MacDonald: Divine Carelessness and Fairytale Levity (Baylor University Press, 2013)
• Melanie Keene, Science in Wonderland: The Scientific Fairy Tales of Victorian Britain (Oxford Univ., Press, 2015)
• Heather O’Donoghue, English Poetry and Old Norse Myth: A History (Oxford Univ. Press, 2014)
• Jamie Williamson, The Evolution of Modern Fantasy: From Antiquarianism to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015)

http://www.mythsoc.org/news/2016-mythopoeic-awards-finalists-announced/

“The Buried Giant” is the seventh novel by British writer Kazuo Ishiguro, published in March 2015 (Faber & Faber, United Kingdom) and Random House, United States).

Kazuo Ishiguro (born 8 November 1954 in Nagasaki, Japan ; his family moved to England in 1960 when he was five) is a British novelist, screenwriter and short story writer. Kazuo Ishiguro obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kent in 1978 and his Master’s from the University of East Anglia’s creative-writing course in 1980.

Ishiguro is one of the world wide celebrated contemporary fiction authors, having received four Man Booker Prize nominations, and winning the 1989 award for his novel „The Remains of the Day”. In 2008, The Times ranked Ishiguro 32nd on their list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945”.

Awards

1982: Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize for “A Pale View of Hills”

1983: Published in the Granta Best Young British Novelists issue

1986: Whitbread Prize for “An Artist of the Floating World”

1989: Booker Prize for “The Remains of the Day”

1993: Published in the Granta Best Young British Novelists issue

1995: Order of the British Empire (UK)

1998: Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France)

2005: US Time magazine names “Never Let Me Go” on its list of the 100 greatest English language novels since the magazine formed in 1923.

2008: The Times (UK) named Ishiguro among “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945”

Works

Novels

“A Pale View of Hills” (1982)

“An Artist of the Floating World” (1986)

“The Remains of the Day” (1989)

“The Unconsoled” (1995)

“When We Were Orphans” (2000)

“Never Let Me Go” (2005) : science fiction novel

“The Buried Giant” (2015) : fantasy novel

Screenplays

“A Profile of Arthur J. Mason” (Original Screenplay for Channel 4, UK

“The Gourmet” (Original Screenplay for the BBC; the script was later published in Granta 43)

“The Saddest Music in the World” (Original story) (2003)

“The White Countess” (Original screenplay) (2005)

Short fiction

Introduction 7: Stories by New Writers (Faber and Faber, 1981): ‘A Strange and Sometimes Sadness’, ‘Waiting for J’ and ‘Getting Poisoned’

“A Family Supper” (Firebird, 1983)

“A Village After Dark” (The New Yorker, 2001)

“Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall” (Faber and Faber, 2009)

Lyrics

“The Ice Hotel”, “”I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again”, “Breakfast on the Morning Tram” and “So Romantic” on Stacey Kent‘s 2007 album Breakfast on the Morning Tram, and “The Summer We Crossed Europe In the Rain”, “Waiter, Oh Waiter”, and “The Changing Lights” on Kent’s 2013 album The Changing Lights.

Film adaptations

“The Remains of the Day“, directed by James Ivory in 1993

“The White Countess“, directed by James Ivory in 2005

“Never Let Me Go“, directed by Mark Romanek in 2010