The Inklings and Culture: A Harvest of Scholarship from the Inklings Institute of Canada

How did five twentieth-century British authors, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and Dorothy L. Sayers, along with their mentors George MacDonald and G. K. Chesterton, come to contribute more to the intellect and imagination of millions than many of their literary contemporaries put together? How do their achievements continue to inform and potentially transform us in the twenty-first century? In this first collection of its kind, addressing the entire famous group of seven authors, the twenty-seven chapters in The Inklings and Culture explore the legacy of their diverse literary art—inspired by the Christian faith—art that continues to speak hope into a hurting and deeply divided world.

Monika B. Hilder is Professor of English at Trinity Western University, Canada where she teaches children’s and fantasy literature. She is co-founder and co-director of the Inklings Institute of Canada, and is the author of a three-volume study of C. S. Lewis and gender.

Sara L. Pearson is Associate Professor of English at Trinity Western University, Canada, specializing in nineteenth-century British literature, particularly the works of Charlotte Brontë. She has been a member of the Inklings Institute of Canada from its inception.

Laura N. Van Dyke teaches at Trinity Western University, Canada, and is an active contributing member of the Inklings Institute of Canada. Her research focuses on twentieth-century and contemporary British literature, especially the work of the Inklings.

“The Inklings and Culture has so much to commend it that it is hard to know where to start my commendation of it. [...] It is no exaggeration to say that this book is a small library in one compact package. The book is a stunning achievement.”
Leland Ryken
Emeritus Professor of English, Wheaton College

“Readers of this book will gain much more than literary interpretation, for here are essays that show how pertinent the insights of these writers are for so much of contemporary life.”
Malcolm Guite
Girton College, Cambridge

“This richly insightful volume […] amply demonstrates the continuing, and increasing, relevance of the Inklings for the twenty-first century.
Holly Ordway
Fellow of Faith and Culture, Word on Fire Institute

“This authoritative volume is essential reading for all intent upon discovering much about the Inklings and what shaped them, a topic that is too rarely explored.”
Colin Duriez
Author of The Oxford Inklings: Lewis, Tolkien and Their Circle

“[…] the intriguing, insightful essays in The Inklings and Culture delight in their depth and breadth, offering readers a rich feast of food for thought.”
Andrew Lazo
Independent C. S. Lewis speaker and scholar

Richard Angelo Bergen

John P. Bowen

Katharine Bubel

Ron Dart

Matthew T. Dickerson

David C. Downing

Crystal Downing

Stephen M. Dunning

Murray J. Evans

Aaron Frede

Grant Havers

Hannah Hempstead