About
Jesse Xander, author of the new Tolkien biography J.R.R. Tolkien, The Man Who Created Middle-Earth.
Jesse Xander
is a queer nonbinary writer and biological anthropologist who was born in 1991 in Kendal, Cumbria, and moved around the UK a lot in their early years before largely settling in the South and South East of England. They discovered Tolkien whilst they were studying Archaeology and Anthropology at Homerton College, Cambridge, beginning their ongoing independent research into Middle-Earth and its languages by applying anthropological tools to Tolkien’s world, with particular focus on the oft-neglected orcs.
They have directed multiple plays and short films, and have written everything from academic articles for Beyond The Binary to comedy plays. As a public speaker and stand-up comic, they have spoken on a variety of topics from lectures analysing othering in fantasy texts to self-deprecating comedy sets about their life.
Aside from Tolkien and other high fantasy, their pet passions include gothic and psychological horror, sci-fi, noir and superheroes. Their writing and performance often draws from their experiences as a disabled trans person and survivor.
Their hobbies include befriending spiders, struggling to learn how to use Clip Studio Paint and sheltering in place.
They would very much like to be one of those authors who owns a cat or three.