Artists and authors discuss their unique notions of 'homeland'

Thirty authors, poets and scholars from 10 countries and regions participated in Shanghai International Literary Week this year, appearing at dialogues, workshops, book launches and other events from Aug 13 to Monday.

Shanghai International Literary Week has been a part of the Shanghai Book Fair for the past nine years. The opening forum of the festival, which this year was themed "Homeland", took place at the JIL Bookstore in Hongkou district on Aug 13.

John Howe, an artist from Canada, launched his book A Middle-earth Traveler: From Bag End to Mordor - John Howe's Sketches of Middle-earth, during the event. Howe illustrates many of J.R.R. Tolkien's works including The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. He was also one of the conceptual designers for Peter Jackson's movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings.