25 March is Tolkien Reading Day! On that day you should pick up any of Tolkien's works and dive in. Even better is to join your other Tolkien friends and go to a local Reading Event.

Tolkien Reading Day was set up to encourage people to read some of Tolkien’s stories at school or university, in reading groups, or as a family. Reading Day is an opportunity for grownups and children to read together and share their thoughts about journeys in Tolkien’s works and the places the travellers are going to. You can read an old favourite or maybe discover new ones. One thing is certain I have reserved 25 March at iwearyourshirt.com and will ask Jason and Evan to read some Tolkien for us... guess I'll be giving away some books that day as well. But next to Tolkien Reading Day there is another event that Tolkien lovers will very much enjoy, namely the dramatisation of Owen Barfield's 1929 novella: The Rose on the Ash-heap.

OWEN BARFIELD - THE ROSE ON THE ASH-HEAP

The Rose on the Ash-Heap is the epilogue from English People - Barfield’s ambitious unpublished novel of English life between the First and Second World Wars. At once fairy tale, societal critique, romance and apocalyptic vision, it discloses the redemptive powers of love and imagination. Written in the late 1920s, a time of widespread societal and economic instability, The Rose on the Ash-Heap is also a tale for the twenty-first century.

"Sultan, Lord of all the Asias, falls passionately in love with a beautiful and elusive temple dancer. He pursues her across continents, all the way to Albion, where the Lord of Albion – guardian of all that is good in the English spirit – confronts the overwhelming threat of Abdol and the forces of materialism".

Event Speakers

Owen A. Barfield is the only grandchild of Owen Barfield. He was 28 when Barfield passed away, and became a trustee of the Owen Barfield Literary Estate in 2006. In 2008, he set up the Barfield Press UK as the publishing arm of the Literary Estate. The novellas Eager Spring,Night Operation and The Rose on the Ash-Heap are previously unpublished works. New editions of Poetic Diction, This Ever Diverse Pair, and The Case for Anthroposophy will be available soon.

Gary Lachman is the author of several books on the related themes of consciousness and culture, including Politics and the Occult: The Left, the Right, and the Radically Unseen,Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work, and A Secret History of Consciousness, in which Owen Barfield's work features largely. A journalist, he has written for the Times Literary Supplement, Independent on Sunday and other journals. He conducted one of the last interviews with Barfield, and contributed to the 1996 award winning documentary film, Owen Barfield: Man and Meaning.

Simon Blaxland-de Lange is a German/Russian language expert. He is the co-founder of Pericles Translations and Research. His book Owen Barfield: Romanticism Come of Age - a Biography was published in 2006. He is the convener of the 2009 international conference held in Switzerland titled, Owen Barfield and the Redemption of the Western Mind.

Performers

Paulamaria Blaxland-de Lange is an actress and storyteller who has worked for many years with adults with special needs. She co-founded Pericles Translations and Research in 1992.

Liehsja Andrea Blaxland-de Lange is a professional harpist and musician.

THE ROSE ON THE ASH-HEAP

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