Catherine McIlwaine is the Tolkien archivist at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and a Tolkien scholar. She won a World Fantasy Special Award—Professional for curating an exhibition of Tolkien's artwork at the Bodleian, and a Hugo Award and a Tolkien Society Award for the accompanying book, Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth.

Catherine McIlwaine earned her BA in classical civilization at the University of Sheffield in 1989. She completed her MA in archival administration at the University of Liverpool in 1993. ^[1]

In 2003 she became Tolkien archivist at the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford. ^[1] In 2018, McIlwaine curated a major exhibition of Tolkien's artwork at the Bodleian, Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, accompanied by a book of the same name that analyses Tolkien's achievement and illustrates the full range of the types of artwork that he created. ^{[1] [2]} Denis Bridoux, reviewing the book for Tolkien Studies, calls it "a mammoth endeavor and ... a tremendous achievement." He describes it as "an invaluable document". He notes that it is scholarly, while the companion book Treasures is aesthetic; he calls the two complementary, and recommends newcomers to buy both. ^[3] Andoni Cossio, writing in Fafnir, describes McIlwaine as "an authoritative editor". ^[4] Hugh Crago, reviewing for the Children's Literature Association, calls the book "well organized [and] well written". ^[5]

In 2019, McIlwaine won a World Fantasy Special Award—Professional for curating the Bodleian's Tolkien exhibition. ^[6] Also in 2019, she won a Hugo Award for Best Art Book and a Tolkien Society Award for Tolkien, Maker of Middle-earth. ^{[7] [8]}

Author

• McIlwaine, Catherine (2018). Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth. Oxford: Bodleian Library. ISBN  978-1851244850.
• McIlwaine, Catherine (2018). Tolkien: Treasures. Oxford: Bodleian library. ISBN  978-1-85124-496-6.

Editor

• Ovenden, Richard; McIlwaine, Catherine, eds. (2022). The Great Tales Never End: Essays in Memory of Christopher Tolkien. Bodleian Library Publishing. ISBN  978-1-8512-4565-9.