28 May 2021 C. S. Lewis once wrote, “Historiography has three functions: to entertain our imagination, to gratify our curiosity, and to discharge a debt we owe our ancestors.” Intellectually and imaginatively influenced (perhaps “formed” is more precise) by writers like Lewis, Charles Williams, Dorothy L. Sayers, and J. R. R. Tolkien, historian Jennifer Woodruff Tait has authored “A Small Introduction to a Vast Topic.” That’s actually the subtitle of her book, Christian History in Seven Sentences. Inter-Varsity Press certainly chose the right person to write the book on Christian History since she is the editor of the award-winning magazine Christian History. This book shows how keenly she feels the duty of discharging our debt, as Lewis puts it, to our ancestors in the Christian faith. Jennifer (PhD, Duke University) is a regular participant in Inkling Folk Fellowship sessions, a priest, a parent, a recent actor in Hamlet, a fine poet, and a friend. Renowned church historian, Grant Wacker, writes: “Four features of this superb book stand out: First, the writing. . . . Second, the erudition. The notes and bibliographic essay alone are worth the price of admission. Third, the conciseness. . . . Finally, the import. Foregrounding not only her own Christian faith but also the implications of such faith for the church today, Tait answers the ‘So what?’ question clearly, decisively, and with a pastor’s heart.” The session addresses questions about the Edict of Milan, Martin Luther, the difference between monks and friars, and how the world missionary movement started, among other elements of “small introduction”.
4 June 2021 NOLLOQUIM TWO: Reminder and Remainder NOLLOQUIM was the name given by our Inkling Folk Friend, Dan Hamilton, to our attempt, summer 2020, to do a small online memorial to the 2020 Lewis & Friends Colloquium that never was. At that time, the Colloquium on “Gender and the Inklings” with over 100 accepted proposals ready to be shared, not to mention five marvelous keynote speakers, was primed to be the finest scholarly Inklings gathering ever. However, it was first postponed and then cancelled. No need to say why. Therefore, on the exact dates of the cancelled postponed Colloquium, we gather to remind ourselves of the legacy of David L. Neuhouser, who started the Lewis & Friends Colloquium in 1996, to consider some short presentations of longer works that we would have heard at the colloquium in 2020 (or 2021), and to dream together about how to make this inspired idea, this imagined shiny thing (and we all know what the Inklings say about the imagination) still come to reality. Presentations include: – Grace Tiffany; Tolkien’s Free Females – Sarah Waters; Hermione in Narnia? Shakespeare’s Female Characters in C. S. Lewis’s Fiction – Gina Dalfonzo; Dorothy and Jack: A Transforming Friendship – Barbara Mary Prescott; Time Travel, Pince-Nez, and Post-Traumatic Stress: Literary Links between Muriel Jaeger and Dorothy L. Sayers – Elizabeth George; “Perfect Understanding:” Friendship and Humanity in Busman’s Honeymoon – Abby Palmisano; Till We Have Faces as a Mythographic Call to Mystical Espousal – Rob Jones (www.robjonesbooks.com) – Judith Millar, “Flora” from Davy and Jacks – Gary Tandy; “O God, that I were a man!” Shifting Gender Roles in C. S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces – Joe Ricke; Inklings and Amazons – James Stockton; The Women of the Oxford University Socratic Club and C. S. Lewis – Reading from The Golden Key
11 June 2021 with author Gina Dalfonzo Although “the Inklings” was a decidedly all-male fellowship, more and more evidence exists of the depth and importance of C. S. Lewis’s friendships with women. Before his friendship and, eventually, marriage to Joy Davidman, none of these was as significant and “transformative” as his relationship with the brilliant mystery writer, dramatist, and religious apologist, Dorothy L. Sayers. As Gina Dalfonzo shows in her new book, Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis, the relationship was mutually influential, just as important to the life and work of Sayers as it was to Lewis. The Inkling Folk Fellowship look at the first book-length exploration of this most interesting and important twentieth-century literary friendship. Author Gina Dalfonzo and the Inkling Folk Fellowship discuss the original idea, the research, the writing, and the discoveries made along the way. Perhaps even more important for our contemporary situation, the book offers an enriching model of friendship, with all its respect, affection, and, yes, disagreements. Crystal Downing, co-director of the Wade Center, writes: “Beautifully written, Dorothy and Jack will transform not only common understanding of both Lewis and Sayers but also common assumptions about male/female friendships.”
18 June 2021 Philadelphia-based actor Anthony (Tony) Lawton has performed professionally in over 100 productions (not to mention work in television and film) and founded the Mirror Theater Company (in 1998). Diana Glyer calls this work “brilliantly-conceived, skillfully written, superbly executed, . . . thrilling, wonder-filled, gut-wrenching, and breath-taking.” She was raving about Lawton’s solo performance of C. S. Lewis’s classic tale of heaven and hell, The Great Divorce. The Inkling Folk Fellowship resonates with the mission statement of Tony’s Mirror Theater Company: “Spiritual Theater for a Secular Audience.” So we couldn’t be more excited to support and sponsor his work as the world (we hope) has slowly eased itself out of plague time. Diana Glyer went on to cay that Tony’s performance “rattled my soul, it broke my heart, and I came away from that theatre feeling like I had experienced the full impact of C. S. Lewis’ creative power for the very first time.” For lots more info about Tony Lawton and his work, plus the rave reviews by journalists and playgoers, see his website. What you might also like to know is that Mr. Lawton is an excellent pie chef and has been selling pies during the pandemic to make ends meet. Talk about talent. (for more info, see his Facebook page.
25 June 2021 A collection of physical books can take us far beyond the limits of the text inside them. Book jackets, dedications, inscriptions, bookplates, and archival publishing history contain many overlooked clues about the work and personalities and characters of the people who write, publish, sell, read, or collect books. Collector, bibliographer, and book sleuth, Dan Hamilton shares some stories from assembling his own library of Inklings material, as well as from years of working with Dr. Ed Brown and Dr. David Neuhouser. That work led to what is now known as “The Brown Collection,” once the finest private collection in the world and now the center of The Lewis Center at Taylor University. Distilling years of research in the stacks, Dan’s discussion, among other things, features two highly-elusive dust jackets, a hand-bound edition of Allegory of Love, a weary editor who apologized profusely for an oversight, several signed books with peculiar provenances, blitz-bombing of books, and a letter with possible clues to a long-lost recording. Dan Hamilton is an engineer and writer from Indianapolis. He has edited numerous George MacDonald novels and written four fantasy books of his own. He helped Dr. Ed Brown write the fascinating story of The Brown Collection, In Pursuit of C. S. Lewis, which has become the go-to guide for Lewis collecting. Dan joined Dr. Dave Neuhouser in establishing the C. S. Lewis and Friends Society, and is a co-founder and leader of the C. S. Lewis Society of Central Indiana. He administers the publishing imprint, Numinous Press. If there were such a thing, and perhaps there is, Dan is one of the Inkling Folk Fellowship’s group of “ancestral voices” – leading us “beyond the text” to the joys of fellowship and friendship with the authors we treasure. If you love C. S. Lewis and the Inklings, if you love books, if you love mysteries, and if you love sitting for hours in book stores looking for that rare Sheed & Ward copy of Pilgrim’s Regress, you will appreciate Dan’s work.
9 July 2021 As a kid, Sarah Emtage spent endless hours “playing stories” with her sisters. The chief inspiration for these stories were the books her Mom read aloud, and the ones she loved best were The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and The Princess and the Goblin. When pencil, paper, and plasticine got in her hands, she was delighted to discover that she could participate in shaping those worlds (as her mother had done by her reading). And she’s still doing it. Still “wasting her time” (Thomas Gradgrind, 1854) playing at story. The world-making of the Inklings and related authors has been instrumental in forming Sarah’s love for words and wonder. Really instrumental. She started sculpting so that she could make fauns and hobbits. She started writing poetry so that she could write a Narnian prophecy in verse. She learned to draw so she could make a picture of the Bird and Baby (Eagle and Child pub where the Inklings met). The playfulness and joy that she finds in the works of these authors has been the spark and the driving force for a life spent making things. Sarah and the rest of the Inkling Folk Fellowship explore her art, her writing, and her whimsical Inkling-inspired view of this made thing, this created work, this phenomenon we call LIFE. Sarah Emtage (aka Swan White) is a poet/sculptor/playwright/library technician in Kingston, Ontario. She has written two books of poetry (Paperscape and The Second Rate Poetry of S. M. Emtage) and a radio play titled Sound Castle. She is currently working on a radio adaptation of The Princess and the Goblin, a picture book called The Time Wager, a sequel to Sound Castle, a poetry book called Clay Castle, and a nameless novel (because she is too ambitious for her own good). You can find her poetry and radio play at scribblore.com and see updates on her art on Instagram.
16 July 2021 This week marks the 62nd anniversary of the death of Joy Davidman Lewis on July 13, 1960. In recent years, scholars and Inklings enthusiasts have become increasingly interested in her life and work, both as an influence on Lewis but also as tribute to her own accomplishments. And rightly so. By the time Joy Davidman Gresham met (and later married) C. S. Lewis, she already had a career as a political activist, novelist, editor, translator, essayist, and poet. A great deal of her work was done as an editor for the American Communist newspaper, The New Masses, for which she was the poetry editor from 1938 – 1945. Over and above “party line” rhetoric, her poetry features the voice of a passionate, muscular, attention-grabbing figure. Something displayed as early as her acclaimed prize-winning volume Letters to a Young Comrade (1938) and even earlier in her poetry written while a student at P.S. 45 in the Bronx and later at Hunter College. Later, even before meeting Lewis except through letters, she began a series of highly-wrought love sonnets, now published as A Naked Tree: Love Sonnets to C. S. Lewis and Other Poems. Although much attention has been given to the frankness and sensuality of the “Jack” poems, these are complex, coded poems, obviously influenced by Renaissance love sonnets (on which Lewis was an expert). The Inkling Folk Fellowship pursue a consideration of Joy Davidman’s poetry. The session is designed to listen with volunteers to read an assigned poem.
23 July 2021 We read this passage from C. S. Lewis’s The Problem of Pain: “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Is it? We may not be sure but the tug of the simple beauty of those balanced lines, move us to trust the person who makes such beautiful sense of things. Dr. Gary Tandy, English Professor at George Fox University (in Newburg, Oregon), has spent considerable time and mental energy pondering the relationship of Lewis’s style to his powerful appeal to a wide range of audiences. Obviously, the Narnia series has shown to have great appeal to “children of all ages.” But Gary has narrowed his question to “why do Lewis’s works of popular apologetics (especially Mere Christianity) continue to find a wide reading audience while so many other excellent books in the same genre do not?” His research (the subject of a book and at least one scholarly essay) suggests that, although Lewis’s understanding of Christian doctrine and his mastery of logical argument are important (and have received the bulk of critical attention), the artistic success of Mere Christianity has as much or more to do with the style by which he appealed to his audience. In short, Lewis created a wise, friendly, and trustworthy persona to pull us in to his argument. Once we were there, he used his unique ability to blend rational argument with imagination, creating memorable metaphors and analogies both supporting his assertions but also captivating our imaginations and intellects. As we approach the 70th anniversary in 2022 of the publication of Mere Christianity, it seems high time for a more thorough explanation of its enduring popularity. At least Gary thinks so. This presentation suggests several reasons including the origin of the book as a series of BBC broadcasts during World War Two. It will also describe four elements of Lewis’s style by which he appealed to and won over his readers. As a writer, Lewis had a knack for memorable, quotable (and, unfortunately, as we have learned, misquotable) statements. It is a truth universally acknowledged that we still have not been able to ignore him or to resist him. This presentation offers a rhetorical/stylistic explanation for this phenomenon. Gary Tandy and the Inkling Folk Fellowship pursue brain food, style points, and mere friendship. Gary’s book on Rhetoric and C. S. Lewis can be found at the publisher’s website.
30 July 2021 Dorothy L Sayers was a woman of contrasts. A strong Christian, she had a baby by a man she did not love – out of wedlock. Possessing a fierce intellect, she translated Dante – and also created one of the most popular fictional detectives ever, in Lord Peter Wimsey. With no new biographies on Sayers having been published for some time, Colin Duriez reassesses her, her life, her writings, her studies and her faith. Drawing on previously unpublished material, particularly her collected letters, he brings to life a fascinating woman. Colin Duriez continues to be one of the most prolific and popular authors on the group of twentieth century writers known collectively as the Inklings. He now has added Dorothy L. Sayers to his list. Colin joins the Inkling Folk Fellowship from his home in England for a discussion of his just-published biography of this most intriguing and “mysterious” author.
6 August 2021 George MacDonald was a master of beautifully dangerous and, unfortunately, relatively unknown fairy tales. His little-known “Photogen and Nycteris” (also known as “The Day Boy and the Night Girl”) is a wonderful example of same. Of course, we are rather used to strong gender divisions in fairy tale worlds, and “Photogren and Nycteris” is no exception. However, the division between the male and female is not between weak and strong, or independent and dependent. In fact, both main characters are weak and strong, dependent and independent, relative to changes in their environments. Interestingly, the real division is between light and dark and once again MacDonald surprises us or goes against fairy tale tradition by NOT using light and dark as images of good and evil but as dispositions towards or habitual responses (neither necessarily good or bad) to the world. So-called weakness or dependence or lack is rendered not so much as an evil (so often equated with privation) but as an opportunity for completion or strength or wholeness through relationship, or, more precisely, love. The Inkling Folk Fellowship pursues a complete reading of George MacDonald’s under-appreciated fairy masterpiece, “The Romance of Photogen and Nycteris.”
13 August 2021 A gigantic and strange Green Man suddenly appears on your screen and demands that you play a weird game with him which may or may not make you feel like your brain has been removed. Well, in fact (ugly thing that it is), Joe Ricke is the giant and just wears a green shirt. How your brain feels will really depend on how much you love hearing 14th century romances read in the original Middle English. Be that as it may, the Inkling Folk Fellowship presents Part One of “(Sir Gawain and) The Green Knight: Text to Screen”. A panel of medievalists and teachers and fans help us try to wrap our 21st century brains around the anonymous 14th century poem “Sir Gawain and the Greek Knight” that, along with Beowulf, lit the imagination of a young J. R. R. Tolkien, inspiring him to write his own fantasies of courage, virtue, and a world filled with numinous powers, friendly and -un. The following week is a discussion of David Lowrey’s critically acclaimed new film, “The Green Knight” (starring Dev Patel), both in relation to the so-called “source material” but also as a unique and important work of art in its own right. If you can dig up a copy of Tolkien’s translation of “Sir Gawain,” that would be a help. If you can’t, find another one. If you can’t, read the Spark Notes. If you can’t do that, the Inkling Folk will give a synopsis before diving in to the text itself; to a discussion of its characters, plot, and themes; and to a review both of Tolkien’s work on the manuscript but its influence on his own work. In a 1953 lecture, Tolkien suggested that “behind our poem stalk the figures of elder myth, and through the lines are heard the echoes of ancient cults, beliefs and symbols… [This] story is not about those old things, but it receives part of its life, its vividness, its tension from them. That is the way with the greater fairy-stories — of which this is one.” That sounds like a lot. We expect nothing less from the Inkling Folk Fellowship. Now, if you’d just hold this axe for a minute, we might have a question for you. The consequences of missing this event could be serious. In short, you might miss out on the fun.
20 August 2021 We may not always get news from the New York Times but something about its review of David Lowery’s new film, “The Green Knight”, axe-slaps one upside the head. Namely, its title: “Monty Python and the Seventh Seal.” Reading A. O. Scott’s Times review, for the most part a big high-five for Lowery and his ensemble, was as much fun at a film review since – the great Roger Ebert. Be that as it may, as promised (and broken promises are taken very seriously in the world of Gawain and the Green Knight), Friday August 20 is set aside for a robust discussion (gigantic, you might say) of the film as a message for our time, as an example of contemporary medievalism, and as an adaption of the brilliant anonymous alliterative 14th century poem, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” (edited and translated by none other than J. R. R. Tolkien). Since The Inkling Fold Fellowship discussed the poem on Friday the 13th, our focus this week is on the film. However, we will not shy away from discussing the relationship of the two. The film has proven divisive hitherto, not so much between fans of the medieval poem and other folks but between the critics (who almost universally praise it) and regular Joe (pun here) movie-goers. Peter Travers, speaking for the critics writes: “In a summer of junk, cinema visionary David Lowery delivers a modern movie masterpiece” and one “fan,” who actually enjoyed the film, accurately predicted that “The Green Knight” “will surely annoy most of the general public,” as reflected in the discrepancy between its 88% “grade” by critics and a 49% grade by “audiences” on the Rotten Tomatoes review site. You, however, need not give the film a grade. You need not even have seen it to join us for our discussion. Note: The film has an R-rating, and has earned it for its violence and sexuality. Those are both a part of the original poem as well, but we understand some people are more sensitive to film than text when it comes to such things. We post this information so that you will not feel “blind-sided,” however.
3 September 2021 He was a Lutheran Minister, a novelist, a playwright, a spiritual writer, a children’s author – shoot, Walter Wangerin even rewrote the Bible and called it “The Book of God.” He lived a full life, a robust life, a meaningful life, and, most importantly, an inspiring life. I’m sure Walter would say that you should never set out to live “an inspiring life” but if you live a good life and make lots of friends, you just might. The great Medieval tradition has taught us that one of the main purposes of living a good life is to die a good death. Walter said as much in his book “Letters from the Land of Cancer” (2010). “Sickness is not an enemy. It is a rooster’s crow, calling me to the truth of myself and to the precise condition of my relationships.” A rooster’s crow. Hmmmm. Sorry, not sorry, Walter, but there was something of your cocky, unforgettable rooster, Chauntecleer, in you (as well as in The Truth you followed). You, too, were the “rooster’s crow” of truth for us. Rousing us to see the world as a place of incredible beauty, yet great danger and conflict (especially in your barnyard trilogy – one of the great “supposals” of faithful imagination in our time). Waking us up to the humanity and humility of our Lord (“The Ragman). Over and over again, in genre after genre, reminding us of the divine image in our neighbors. All of our neighbors. Walter died on August 9. He had been dying for some time. Preparing to die even longer. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2006. Joe Ricke met him a in 2012 when Stephanie Sandberg adapted and directed (with Wangerin’s help) a theatrical production of “Dun Cow” for the Festival of Faith & Writing in 2012 then watched him sitting two rows away, glowing with the joy of collaborative creativity. During that process, Sandberg said: “He’s one of the gentlest, kindest and warmest people I’ve ever met. And he’s very wise about the suffering of people.” Those who knew him, even if only through his works, crow “Amen!” There is suffering everywhere in Walter’s work. And great joy. The Inkling Folk Fellowship are joined by special guest Matthew Dickerson to share a tribute to Walter. Matthew is the co-editor (with InklingFolk participant, Anne M. Doe Overstreet) of Songs from the Silent Passage, a new book of essays on Walter’s writings.
10 September 2022 The first InklingFolk Stone Soup pot luck will share assembled writings – published, unpublished, work-in-progress, old or new. This is an opportunity for attendees (i.e., anyone) to contribute original works or a piece written by someone else that we need to hear. All ingredients will be added to the pot.
17 September 2021 Yes, yes. You know about Mere Christianity, Screwtape, Narnia, and, perhaps, even Till We Have Faces. But did you know that Lewis’s best friend throughout his entire life was his brother, Warren? That his wife, Joy Davidman, was an award-winning young poet years before she had ever heard of, much less met, Lewis? And, most important, that Lewis liked to bathe with just his nose sticking out from the bathwater, “like a hippo” (as he wrote to one of his godchildren). Well, you would know these things, and oh so much more, if you had just read the most recent (just released) issue of Christian History: Jack at Home, a look at C. S. Lewis’s life without quite so much emphasis (as usual at least) on his writing and speaking career. The issue covers Lewis’s relationship to his parents, his brother, his long-time friend Arthur Greeves, Mrs. Moore (the woman he lived with most of his life), children, his colleagues, his wife, Joy, and much more. The Inkling Folk Fellowship and several of the authors/editors who worked on that issue take a behind-the-scenes look at how the issue was dreamed up, how the editors chose what they considered the most relevant topics and the best writers for those topics, and, especially, how they hope the content of “Jack at Home” will change our understanding of the man who wrote those aforementioned books we know and love. If you don’t know much about Christian History magazine, this will also be a good chance to find out about this incredibly fine publication, including an opportunity to subscribe (free or donation) and, if you are so inclined, to support their work. This is a look behind the scenes of C. S. (Jack) Lewis’s life and behind the scenes of the making of this most interesting and helpful issue of Christian History. There is always something new to learn. Why not learn it in fellowship with the Inkling Folk?
24 September 2021 Tolkien Week – the birthday week of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins (September 22) and a week to remember and recite and roll the R’s of the enchanted words of the Professor himself. This is also the one-year anniversary of the Inkling Folk Fellowship. Our very first virtual gathering was one year ago Friday, and it was to celebrate Tolkien week with a session of readings from his work. So, what better way to celebrate both than by . . . . The Inkling Folk Fellowship will meet for readings from Tolkien. Nothing like hearing them read aloud to wash Peter Jackson out of your head. Join us as we enjoy and marvel at “the riddle game” between Bilbo and Gollum, Bilbo’s birthday speech, the coming together of Faramir and Éowyn, the creation song from The Silmarillion, and much more. Letters, lectures, poems, epics, fairy tales, allegories, even a play about Anglo-Saxon heroism – Tolkien’s published works are truly “God’s plenty” (as Dryden said of Chaucer). We spend two hours (give or take) reading and listening to the so much goodness of his subcreations. May the blessing of Elves, Men and all the Inkling Folk go with you. May the stars shine upon your faces! [Image for this week by Matěj Čadil]
1 October 2021 No, of course not. We are not excluding the Inklings because we don’t love them. We do love them; most of the time anyway. But after a year talking about the Inklings, we might perhaps be excused for mentioning a few other authors. We want to hear recommendations for “must read” authors, old or new, religious or non, fiction or . . . whatever that other stuff is called. The Inkling Folk Fellowship will share favorites. Did you know that fellowship means sharing? And that’s exactly what we do. Participants just show up and give an “elevator pitch.” It is not necessary to have an author to identify. Just a book that you think is priceless. We assume it had an author. By “no Inkling,” we, of course, are outlawing Chesterton, MacDonald, Joy Davidman, and others as well. In other words, the usual suspects are not allowed. But Cervantes is. And T. S. Eliot (they both had birthdays the previous week). And Bonhoeffer. And Rushdie. And Mark Twain. And Annie Dillard. And Langston Hughes. And we introduce you to the marvelous late 20th Century poet, Jane Kenyon. Remember, five minutes is all we each get. A gigantic Ent (with the speed of an Elf) will invoke the mute blip after the 4 minute 59 second mark. Or perhaps the offending computer catches on fire. But, oh how lovely those five minutes will have been talking about your fave writer or book. There is no talking about yourself or your best friend or the journal you edit or books about the Inklings (that would be sneaky and perhaps sinful). This is not a time for self promotion but a time to celebrate seeing the world through eyes and imaginations other than our own (oops, we referenced an Inkling).
