Episode 329: "On Fairy Stories" Revisited with Jenn Rogers episode artwork

EPISODE · May 19, 2026 · 1H 55M

Episode 329: "On Fairy Stories" Revisited with Jenn Rogers

from The Literary Life Podcast · host Angelina Stanford Thomas Banks

On today's episode of The Literary Life, our hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks are joined by Jenn Rogers for a new discussion of "On Fairy Stories" by J.R.R. Tolkien. After sharing some opening commonplace quotes, Jenn gives us background and context for how "On Fairy Stories" comes to us today. She talks about the conversations being had by Tolkien and other philologists and folklorists that set the stage for this essay. Angelina highlights the idea of the Tree of Tales and its importance to understanding all of literature. Other topics they discuss together include sub-creation, the soup of story, the real versus the ordinary, recovery and escape, plus so much more! Don't forget to check out everything going on over at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay up to date on all the upcoming new summer classes and webinars, including Heather Goodman's May webinar on Mary Poppins. To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/329. 

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Episode 329: "On Fairy Stories" Revisited with Jenn Rogers

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This episode was published on May 19, 2026.

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On today's episode of The Literary Life, our hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks are joined by Jenn Rogers for a new discussion of "On Fairy Stories" by J.R.R. Tolkien. After sharing some opening commonplace quotes, Jenn gives us background and...

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