Robin Anne Reid is a scholar of literature who has specialized in feminist studies and Tolkien studies. She was a professor of English at Texas A&M University until her retirement in 2020.

Biography

Robin Anne Reid took her B.A. and M.A. at Western Washington University in 1979 and 1981, followed by an MA at Middlebury College in 1984. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Washington in 1992. She has taught courses at both undergraduate and graduate level on topics in literature including fantasy and Tolkien.[1] She began her career at Western Washington University in 1979, moving successively to Boise State University in 1985 and Olympic Community College in 1989.[1] She then served as a professor of English from 1993 at Texas A&M University. She retired in May 2020, refusing the title of "Professor Emerita", and using instead the description "independent scholar". In a 2022 article, she described herself as "A Queer Atheist Feminist Autist".[2] She studied feminism for some ten years and then switched to Tolkien studies.[2][3] She has also written on fantasy and science fiction more widely, such as on Arthur C. Clarke.[4]

Reid's work on J. R. R. Tolkien and his Middle-earth writings includes papers and a bibliographic essay on Tolkien and race.[5][6][7] She has written on homosexuality in Tolkien's text and fan responses to it.[8] With Judy Ann Ford, she has contributed to scholarly analysis of Peter Jackson's film interpretation of The Lord of the Rings.[9]

Reception

Reviewing Reid's book Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy, K. A. Laity wrote that it is an "immense, glossy reference book ... aimed at the library market", with a scope spanning both academic and fan sources.[10]

Benjamin Lawson writes of Reid's Ray Bradbury: A Critical Companion that it succeeds in being useful to the general reader, having been designed as an introduction for young adults. Lawson finds the "Alternative Perspectives" section at the end of the analysis of each of Bradbury's books "the chief novelty and sophistication" of this particular Companion. In the space of three pages each, these sections give an update on recent theory, including in some cases gender or "more daringly" queer theory.[11]

Books

Authored

Edited

References

  1. ^ a b "Robin Anne Reid" (PDF). Texas A&M University-Commerce. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b Reid, Robin A. (2022). "A Queer Atheist Feminist Autist Responds to Donald Williams's "Keystone or Cornerstone? A Rejoinder to Verlyn Flieger on the Alleged 'Conflicting Sides' of Tolkien's Singular Self". Mythlore. 40 (2). Article 14.
  3. ^ Ryan, Barbara (2000). "[Review:] 'Feminism for the 21st Century'". NWSA Journal. 12 (1): 181–186. doi:10.1353/nwsa.2000.0020. JSTOR 4316717.
  4. ^ Marbais, Peter Christian (1998). "[Review:] Arthur C Clarke: A Critical Companion". Extrapolation (Pre-2012). 39 (2): 174.
  5. ^ Reid, Robin Anne (11 February 2021). "Making or Creating Orcs: How Thorinsmut's Free Orcs AU Writes Back to Tolkien". Journal of Tolkien Research. 11 (2). article 3.
  6. ^ Reid, Robin Anne (2017). "Race in Tolkien Studies: A Bibliographic Essay". Tolkien and Alterity. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 33–74. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-61018-4_3. ISBN 978-3-319-61017-7.
  7. ^ Reid, Robin Anne (2022). "Race in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and in Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor". Journal of Tolkien Research. 15 (2). Article 4.
  8. ^ Reid, Robin Anne (2009). "Thrusts in the Dark: Slashers' Queer Practices". Extrapolation (Pre-2012); Brownsville. 50 (3 (Fall 2009)): 463–483, 376. doi:10.3828/extr.2009.50.3.6.
  9. ^ Ford, Judy Ann; Reid, Robin Anne (2011). "Into the West: Far Green Country or Shadow on the Waters?". In Bogstad, Janice M.; Kaveny, Philip E. (eds.). Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy. McFarland & Company. pp. 169–182. ISBN 978-0-7864-8473-7. Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  10. ^ Laity, K. A. (2009). "Review of Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy". Femspec. 10 (2): 135–138.
  11. ^ Lawson, Benjamin S. (2001). "[Review:] Ray Bradbury Companions". Utopian Studies. 12 (1): 133–136. JSTOR 20718241.
Categories