David Day (born October 1947) is a Canadian author and poet. He is best known for his books on

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

.Biography at ABC Book World
/ref> Day has published 46 books that have sold over 3 million copies.

Early life and education

Day was born and raised in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

, Canada. His father worked as chief fireman for area military bases. Day was editor of his high school's newspaper, and also contributed high school sports columns to the ''

Victoria Daily Times The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the Sept. 2, 1980 merger of the ''Victoria Daily Times'', established in 1884, and the ''British Colonist'' (later the ''Daily Co ...

'', graduating from Victoria High School in 1966. After finishing high school, Day worked as a logger for five years on

before graduating in 1976 from the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

Career

Day has published over 46 books of poetry, natural history, ecology,

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

, fantasy and children's literature. Day has been a columnist for ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

''. He is best known for his books on the life and works of

. In 2015, Day received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Victoria.

Works on Tolkien

Day has written at least 15 books pertaining to the world created by J. R. R. Tolkien. His first book, ''A Tolkien Bestiary'', released in 1979, is an illustrated reference book on the fauna, flora and people of

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is t ...

. The book has been translated in 20 languages and reprinted numerous times since. The Dutch version reached the best-seller list. The Tolkien family's publishers,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

, commissioned Day to write ''The Hobbit Companion'', but dropped the book when

Christopher Tolkien Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor, becoming a French citizen in later life. The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father' ...

objected and threatened a lawsuit. Day was forced into bankruptcy by the protracted legal battle. He later found another publisher for the book, and the rewritten version was approved by the Tolkien estate. With the release of '' The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'' series, Day's 2019 ''An Encyclopedia of Tolkien'' debuted on the ''Toronto Star''s list of bestselling books in Canada on October 12, 2022.

Other books

Day's first book of poetry, ''The Cowichan'', was based on a journal he kept during his logging years. He collaborated with Japanese artist Warabe Aska on three children's books, writing poems to accompany Aska's illustrations. Day explored his theory that ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...

'' was written in mathematical code in his book, ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Decoded'', based on 18 years of research studying more than 1,000 different editions of Carroll's book.

Critical reactions

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' named Day's ''The Doomsday Book of Animals'' the critics' book of the year in 1981. Colin Tudge, writing in ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

'' reviewed ''The Doomsday Book of Animals'', writing: A review in ''

Quill & Quire ''Quill & Quire'' is a Canadian magazine about the book and publishing industry. The magazine was launched in 1935 and has an average circulation of 5,000 copies per issue, with a publisher-claimed readership of 25,000. ''Quill & Quire'' reviews ...

'' wrote of ''Nevermore'':

Publications

* ''The Cowichan''. Oolichan Books, 1975 * ''Many Voices''. North Vancouver, 1977 * ''The Burroughs Bestiary''. UK: New English Library, 1978 * ''A Tolkien Bestiary''. London: Chancellor Press, 1979 * ''The Scarlet Coat Serial''. Canada: Press Porcepic, 1981 * ''The Doomsday Book of Animals''. New York: Viking Press, 1981 * ''The Animals Within''. Canada: Penumbra Press, 1984 * ''Castles''. New York: Bantam Books, 1984 *'' Gothic''. Canada: Exile Editions, 1986 * ''The Emperors Panda''. Canada: McClelland & Stewart, 1986 *'' The Whale War''. UK: Rutledge, 1987 * ''The Emperor's Panda''. London: Piccadilly, 1988 * ''The Eco Wars''. London: Harrap, 1989 * ''The Swan Children''. London: Piccadilly Press, 1989 * ''The Encyclopedia of Vanished Species''. UK: Universal Books, 1989 * ''Noah’s Choice''. London: Viking Penguin, 1990 * ''True Tales of Environmental Madness''. London: Pelham Books, 1990 * ''The Sleeper''. London: Piccadilly Press, 1990 * ''Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia''. London: Mitchell Beazley, 1991 * ''The Walking Catfish''. New York: Macmillan, 1991 * ''Aska’s Animals''. Canada: DoubleDay, 1991 * ''Aska’s Birds''. Canada: DoubleDay, 1992 * ''A-Z of Tolkien''. London: Mandarin, 1993 * ''Tippu''. London: Piccadilly Press, 1993 * ''King of the Woods''. London: Anderson Press, 1993 * ''Aska’s Sea Creatures''. Canada: DoubleDay, 1994 * ''The Complete Rhinoceros''. London: EIA Books, 1994 * ''Tolkien’s Ring''. London: Harper Collins, 1994 * ''The Quest for King Arthur''. London: De Agostini, 1996 * ''The Visions and Revelations of St Louis De Metis''. Canada: ThistleDown Press, 1997 * ''Just Say No To Family Values and Other Rants, Howls, and Moans''. Toronto: Exile Editions, 1997 * ''The Hobbit Companion''. London: Pavillion Books, 1997 * ''The World of Tolkien: Mythological Sources of Lord of the Rings''. London: Mitchell Beazley, 2003 * ''Nevermore: A Book of Hours''. Toronto: Quattro Books, 2012 * ''A Dictionary of Tolkien''. London: Cassell, 2013 * ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Decoded''. Toronto: Doubleday, 2015 * ''An Atlas of Tolkien''. London: Cassell, 2015 * ''The Battles of Tolkien''. London: Cassell, 2016 * ''The Heroes of Tolkien''. London: Cassell, 2017 * ''The Dark Powers of Tolkien''. London: Cassell, 2018 * ''The Hobbits of Tolkien''. London: Cassell, 2019 * ''The Illustrated World of Tolkien''. San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 2019 *'' The Ring Legends of Tolkien''. London: Cassell, 2020 * ''An Encyclopedia of Tolkien: The history and mythology that inspired Tolkien’s world''. San Diego: Canterbury Classics, 2019

Personal life

Day has a daughter and is married to Róisín Magill. As of 2020, he lives in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, David 1947 births Living people People from the Capital Regional District Writers from British Columbia Canadian biographers Canadian male poets Male biographers Tolkien studies 20th-century biographers 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian children's writers Canadian literary critics University of Victoria alumni