Oloris Publishing Acquires Silver Leaves Journal

Via Lily Milos of Middle-earth News:

As The White Tree Fund closes its doors, the Silver Leaves Journal finds a new home.

Oloris Publishing is excited to announce the recent acquisition of Silver Leaves, formerly the official journal of The White Tree Fund. On January 16, 2013, the announcement was made that The White Tree Fund was closing its doors. “It was a tough decision to make but I think it’s the right one for me. It was an adventure of the heart and I’m eternally grateful to the amazing people who joined me on it,” says Lara Sookoo, founder of the charitable organization.

For eight years the organization enthusiastically raised awareness and funds for various causes. Inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, in particular the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Sookoo founded The White Tree Fund as a way for the Tolkien community to give back to the world in which they live. “The theme of ‘fellowship’ is very strong in the books,” observed Sookoo. It was that sense of fellowship that carried over to the publication of the Silver Leaves Journal.

The mission of the Silver Leaves Journal was twofold: to raise funds for The White Tree Fund and to give members of the Tolkien community in particular, and the fantasy community in general, a place to publish regardless of their status. The response was incredible. Highly visible and established authors and artists freely offered their works for publication, as well as, first time authors and artists. With the focus on the love of fellowship, not the person, the journal has enjoyed a rich and varied content that is highly respected.

Oloris Publishing will continue with the same high ideals, so fans of Silver Leaves need not be concerned about any changes. The editorial team is remaining with the journal, so the transition is a smooth one. In fact, founder and chief visionary, Lara Sookoo, will remain as Editor in Chief of Silver Leaves. The move to Oloris Publishing will allow the journal and its editorial team more exciting opportunities and an ability to reach a greater number of fans within Tolkien and fantasy communities. As Sookoo said in her announcement, “Stay tuned for a different kind of adventure.”

Silver Leaves is calling for submissions for our fifth issue, to be published by Oloris Publishing.

The theme of this issue will be ‘The Hobbit.‘ Silver Leaves is welcoming artwork submissions, and all academic, journalistic, reflective, and creative submissions pertaining to The Hobbit (and Hobbits generally). There is also limited room for creative and non-fiction submissions relating to Tolkien’s works, or to other fantasy works, which may fall outside of the theme of Issue #5. Publication is set for September 22, 2013 in both print and electronic formats. The deadline for all submissions is June 1, 2013.

For submission guidelines, please visit the Oloris Publishing website.

To learn more about past and current issues of Silver Leaves, visit Oloris Publishing, or follow Silver Leaves on Facebook and Twitter. To contact the Editors of Silver Leaves, please email Silver.Leaves.Journal@gmail.com.

An Interview with Jef Murray, by Pieter Collier of TolkienLibrary.com

The following is excerpted from Pieter Collier’s ‘Interview with Jef Murray about Seer: A Wizard’s Jornal,’ originally posted to Tolkien Library on September 19th, 2012. The full interview may be read at tolkienlibrary.com.

To learn more about Seer: A Wizard’s Journal, visit olorispublishing.com.

TolkienLibrary: Some weeks ago I announced the release of a new book called Seer: A Wizard’s Journal by Jef Murray.

This book takes us on a mystical journey through the seasons. Wending our way through time and space, we meet monks, elves, angels, apparitions, and, of course, wizards. We venture into the hidden world that is all around us, the world that children so easily see. This treasure trove of tales, poems, and original art offers us hope and wonder.

Since I know Jef Murray as an artist and a magnificent person, who I love to discuss and talk with, I thought it was a nice idea to set up a small interview about this book. It always interests me to see how an artist can use several media to bring his story. Just like Tolkien was a brilliant author, he also was a fine artist (my personal opinion). It is always interesting to talk about a book with the author and I hope this interview will give you some extra info about both the book, the author and the artist.

TL. While most of us know you as an artist and illustrator, you have just released a book called Seer: a Wizard’s Journal. What prompted you to start writing?

JM. I first began publishing a regular online newsletter in May, 2006 (see mystical realms). That was just a couple of months before I attended the second Gathering of the Fellowship in Toronto as an artist guest of honour.

The newsletter was penned more as a discipline for myself than as a pretense on my part toward any real scrivening skills. Yet, as I sat down to write each month, I discovered stories pouring from my pen, along with occasional poems; these in addition to essays on life, on wonder, on faith, folly, and all of the many scenes and seasons that enliven this magical world of ours. These ponderings, poems, and parables ultimately formed the basis of Seer: A Wizard’s Journal.

TL. At first I thought you had written a novel, but it is in fact a collection of short stories and poems. But maybe it still is a book that can be read as a novel and has one main narrative we can follow?

JM. A narrative does thread through all of the tales, and significant characters appear and reappear, sometimes with different names, but still recognizable. There are overarching themes and an overarching poem, finally declared fully in the final tale of the book, that may help to tie the threads together for readers…at least somewhat. For, although I’m not trying to sound pretentious, there is more going on in this collection than even the author first perceived, and perhaps that is as it should be with all storytelling.

From the Introduction to the book, let me add the following:

“Each person encountering these stories and sketches will find something different awaiting them. And since many moons have passed since some of these journal entries were penned, I find that there remain unexpected epiphanies for me upon reencountering them.
Every time we enter into a story, a poem, or a picture, we are a different person. And buried within some turn of phrase or some couplet that we encounter, there may lie this suggestion, or that metaphor, or some word of encouragement that we most need in order to better understand ourselves and the nature of our own unique journey.”

TL. I can imagine the book must be lavishly illustrated as well, how much is text and how much art?

JM. There is certainly more text than artwork, although there is plenty of the latter. Each play, poem, or pondering includes at least one illustration, and often several. Many of these were new pieces wrought for the work in question, but others were taken from previous sketches and paintings that may be familiar to friends and patrons.

TL. Is there any special moment during the writing and creation of the book that you can share with us?

JM. There were many moments of wonder and grace, both in the writing of these tales and in my discovery (often long after the fact!) of what they were truly about. But let me share one aspect of the book’s creation that I found tremendously humbling.

Joseph Pearce is an internationally-known lecturer, author, and editor. His biographies of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and G.K. Chesterton are brilliant and highly sought-after, and he is the editor of the St. Austin Review (StAR). Joseph and I have collaborated on a number of projects, but I was skeptical that this, my first book-length venture into authorship, would be worthy of his attention. Nevertheless, I sent him copies of the tales and asked whether he might consider writing a paragraph to help in its promotion.

Joseph not only assented, but penned a Prologue that was not only complimentary, but that teased out subtleties and connections within the tales and with the greater body of world myth and literature that, as I’ve asserted previously, were clearly present but hardly noticed by the author. I am more than honoured to have Joseph as a friend and collaborator, and couldn’t have asked for a better way for readers to begin the journey that is Seer: A Wizard’s Journal.

Source: Interview with Jef Murray about Seer: A Wizard’s Journal (19.09.12 by Pieter Collier)