While Heren Istarion: The Northeast Tolkien is in crisis and deserves to get all your help and support, they still proceed to organise the Second Imperishable Flame Awards. These three awards are designed to recognize and honor the leaders in Tolkien/Inklings Studies, Inspired Creativity, and Fan Community Achievements.

To begin the 2nd Annual Award Nomination process The North East Tolkien Society spoke with last year's winners to get their thoughts on who should be nomintated for the 2006/07 awards.

See what each had to say! The talk I had with The Nort East Tolkien Society can be found at the bottom of this article. But first let us see who is nominated this year. It seems there are many people nominated who all deserve an award and some I can see as good friends. You can follow the links to see interviews with some of them, collector profiles of some others and reviews of the publications by these scholars. I'm very happy to see that I got nominated, together with Hyarion, for organising the Children of Hurin Release Party. It is a big honor, thanks so much!

This years polling will run through December 1st, 2007 So go and vote, plus stay tuned for a special 2007 Award Nominee Special forthcoming!!

NOMINEES FOR THE 2006/07 IMPERISHABLE FLAME AWARDS:

Category 1: Tolkien/Inklings Scholarship

- Michael Drout (Tolkien Encyclopedia,The Modern Scholar)- Diana Pavlac Glyer (The Company They Keep)- Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide)- P. Gilliver, J. Marshall and E. Weiner (The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary)

Category 2: Tolkien/Inklings Inspired Creativity

- Carvin Knowles/Jon Anderson "In Elven Lands"- James Dunning: 40 Years of Tolkien Art- SK Thoth /Rhan Wilson: (Space Gypsies)- Sam Balcomb/Jesse Soff: (The Ore)

Category 3: Tolkien/Inkling Fan Community Award

- Neil Holford (TolkienBooks.net)- Jeremy Edmonds (The Tolkien Collectors Guide)- Pieter Collier and Hyarion (Organizers Children Of Hurin Release Party)- Phil Goss (The Compleat Gyde to Tolkien Calendars)

THE NORTH EAST TOLKIEN SOCIETY CATCHING UP WITH ME

As I won one of the three awards last year it was nice to receive a mail from the North East Tolkien Society to ask me how I was doing and to make suggestions for new nominees. I was very happy to do so. Here you can read the transcript of our talk.

Northeast Tolkien Society:Any thoughts you can share with us on being selected for the Award, what have you been up to since. Any publications, appearances, etc… Funny quips, jokes, experiences welcome!

Pieter Collier: When I was nominated for the first Imperishable Flame award for Tolkien / Inkling Fan Appreciation this came as a big surprise! When I started my website in 2001 I was not really aware that there where many more people who had the same passion as me. Since then I have learned to know so many people and I was amazed by the many mails and reactions I received from all over the world. It was not until I actually won the award that I realized that my work was appreciated by so many all over the planet. It motivated me to work even more on my website and try now even more to bring the on line Tolkien community all the latest news on new Tolkien books. Since 2006 I redesigned my website completely and started to do interviews with famous authors and artists and hope this gives a lot of information which the Tolkien community enjoys. Also I have tried to write a monthly article on all new releases.

Northeast Tolkien Society:Who would you endorse/nominate for this years awards?

Pieter Collier:

Tolkien and Inkling Scholarship and Study for 2006

While my first thought immediately goes to Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond I think they deserve a prize which is out of the three existing categories.

For this award I would like to nominate Diana Glyer. This for several reasons! If there is one book that really has impressed me, it is Diana Glyer's The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community.

While the content of the book is very great, important facts are discussed and compared, and there is tons of interesting information, it remains easy and is very enjoyable to read. This book will probably become the standard book when people need to know something about The Inklings. If you are interested in the Inklings, this is the book to read. Secondly Diana Glyer is a fantastic person in all aspects. Very friendly and warm, plus it amazes me how a mother who works, has kids, has also managed to write such a fantastic book. If someone deserves this award it is for sure her!

Tolkien/Inkling Inspired Creativity 2006

Also here my mind wonders to persons like Alan Lee and John Howe, but for sure they are celebrated and loved by many anyways. For this award I would like to nominate someone like Jef Murray, who creates works straight from his hearth and soul. But last year I learned to know someone who really deserves this award, he is not very famous but he and his works have made a big impression on me, namely James Dunning.

The Artist James Dunning has read and digested Tolkien’s various works for forty years and has constructed evolving mental landscapes of scenes in Middle-earth. He has tried to depict Tolkien themes presented here in a style consistent with J.R.R. Tolkien’s own illustrative style.

Himself a language lover uses a very simple style to illustrate the works of Tolkien and while not having the artistic capacities like other artists (Howe, Ted, Alan, …) , his work touches me in a more pure way. Inside his works are many tiny details, which show us the love he has for the written word. I hope his nomination will make more people see and enjoy his work!

Tolkien/Inkling Fan Appreciation 2006

This is a difficult question because most of the possible nominees are very close friends. There are many people very active and many deserve a nomination. There are two persons who I look up to and these are Neil Holford, who’s TolkienBooks.net is the standard reference for Tolkien collectors, and Jeremy Edmonds. The last one takes up a special place in my hearth and has done so many great things for the Tolkien / Inkling Fan community the last year I hope he wins this award. In one year time his Tolkien Collectors Guide has become the meeting place for all serious Tolkien fans and has given the Tolkien collectors a home to meet each other. The goal of this website is to grow over time into a useful, dynamic community of J. R. R. Tolkien collecting resources. Books by and about Tolkien, fanzines and other publications, calendars from all over the world, toys and other merchandise from the movies (Ralph Bakshi, Rankin and Bass, and Peter Jackson, with more to come, I'm sure), and other collectibles from the mundane to the eclectic.

The Collector's Guide section is the core of the site, with reviews, descriptions, and other information of interest for Tolkien collectors in all areas (eventually). The News section has announcements for events around the world specifically of interest for Tolkien collecting.

The Events section covers upcoming meetings, conventions, forthcoming publications and collectibles release dates. The Discussion Forums are the place to meet fellow collectors, ask and answer questions pertaining to Tolkien collecting, and generally share and enjoy your passion for collecting - anyone can post, including anonymously.

Next to this Jeremy Edmonds is always helping out fellow Tolkien fans in all possible ways, from helping out with personal websites to be a shoulder to lean on in difficult times. For all this reasons I nominate him for this award.

Northeast Tolkien Society:Do you have a suggestion outside the realm of these three categories?

Pieter Collier: I would like to see a life time achievement award and in one go nominate Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. They deserve this award more then anyone else and I don’t think I need to explain why.

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