The C.S. Lewis and Inklings Society is now accepting registrations for its twelfth annual meeting on March 26-28, 2009, addressing the theme “Inklings: Dinosaurs or Contemporaries?” and featuring plenary speaker Peter Schakel. See below for more details. Please click here to see the seminar schedule (as a PDF). A detailed schedule will be available mid-February.

In papers and plenary sessions, the conference will explore ways in which C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield and Charles Williams may (or may not) be particularly relevant to the literary, theological, philosophical and socio-political issues of our own early 21st century times. As in previous conferences, we would like to extend the conversation to include Dorothy Sayers as well, and we would like to open the conversation even a bit further this year by including G.K. Chesterton, a strong-minded proto-Inkling of sorts, in the mix. What might this diverse and pleasantly provocative circle of thinkers have to offer to the world of ideas that we find ourselves in?

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Jo-Anna wrote in to remind us about Silver Leaves.  Our very own Jonathon Svendsen has an article in this issue, and we’re very proud of that:

Tolkien-based journal “Silver Leaves” Issue Two, has released as of Saturday, Jan. 10. The theme is The Inklings and we are very excited about getting it into folks’ hands. It’s a superb issue, with contributors including Douglas Gresham, Colin Duriez, Brian Sibley, and Jef Murray, along with many others. Ordering information is at www.whitetreefund.org.

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Welcome to Tumnus’s Book Shelf where we review any and all books related to The Chronicles of Narnia and CS Lewis! For today’s book we will be reviewing Tales Before Narnia, edited by Douglas Anderson.

Title: Tales Before Narnia

Author: Various

Edited by: Douglas A. Anderson

Publisher: Del Ray

ISBN -10: 0345498909

ISBN -13: 978-0345498908

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NarniaFans Staff Member, Jonathon D. Svendsen, is going to be featured in the second issue of  Silver Leaves, which is put out by the White Tree Fund, a Tolkien-related publication. The theme for this issue is dedicated to the Inklings. Fans of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien know that the Inklings was the name of the informal literary group that consisted of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams and many others.

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We’ve just received the sad news that the original illustrator of The Chronicles of Narnia has just passed away:

Wayne Hammond reports the death of Baynes at her home in Surrey. Pauline Baynes was the original illustrator of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series, as well as of Tolkien’s Farmer Giles of Ham (1948), The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book (1962), and Smith of Wootton Major (1967).

Read more .. Wikipedia Entry

Narnia expert Brian Sibley has written a blog entry about Pauline Baynes that you can read here:

Brian Sibley’s Blog on Pauline Baynes: Queen of Narnia and Middle-Earth

And note that obituaries will be appearing in The Times, The Telegraph, The Independent and The Guardian later in the week.

Kind regards,

Brian Sibley

Update 2:

Rem, from the Philippine Order of Narnians, sent us an update with links to the articles posted athe both the Independent and the Guardian:

I thought you’d like to know that, as Mr Sibley said they would, Pauline Baynes’ obituaries have already shown up at the Independent and the Guardian.

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The Angelican Communion News Service reported that CS Lewis’ Oxford home, The Kilns will be recieving a Blue Plaque that will commemorate the home as an important historical landmark. Below is an excerpt from the article

“We have very stringent rules and only award blue plaques for the highest level of achievement,” says Eda Forbes, secretary to the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board ahead of the unveiling this week of a special plaque at The Kilns, the home of the scholar, author and Christian thinker C.S. Lewis, who died in 1963.

Today, Lewis’s work continues to touch the lives of millions, not least through Disney’s The Chronicles of Narnia films. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe came first and now Prince Caspian, the second movie in the series, is on general release in the UK. This month has also seen the publication of a new edition of C.S. Lewis’s 1942 bestseller, The Screwtape Letters, in which a senior devil writes words of advice to a junior devil. In all, Lewis wrote 40 books, most of which are still in print. His sales to date total around 100 million copies in 35 languages.

Lewis lived at The Kilns, now in Lewis Close, Headington, Oxford, from 1930 to 1963 and it was there that he wrote many of his works, including the Narnia series of books, based on four children who lived with Lewis and his family as evacuees during the Second World War. Today in The Kilns, now a Christian study centre owned and restored by the California-based C.S. Lewis Foundation, a period wardrobe stands in the hallway in the very place where one stood in Lewis’s day. It was a wardrobe that gave the Oxford don the idea for a gateway through which his young characters could enter the magical world of Narnia.

Walter Hooper, Lewis’s former secretary and literary advisor to his estate, will unveil the C.S. Lewis blue plaque on Saturday 26 July at 10.30 a.m. Sir Hugo Brunner, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire and chairman of the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board, will explain why his board decided to designate The Kilns as an historic landmark to mark the contribution of C.S. Lewis to scholarship and literature. Stan Mattson, founder and president of the C.S. Lewis Foundation, will also speak on the importance of Lewis for today and introduce Oxbridge 2008, the Foundation’s two-week conference that immediately follows Saturday’s blue plaque event.

Others who have indicated they will attend the ceremony include the Lord Mayor of Oxford (Councillor Susanna Pressel), the chairman of Oxfordshire County Council (Councillor Tony Crabbe), the chairman of South Oxfordshire District Council (Councillor Colin Dawkes) and the chairman of the Oxford Civic Society (Mr Tony Joyce). Professor David Clary, president of Magdalen College, where Lewis taught, is also expected to be present.

Read the rest at the Angelican Communion News Service.

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CS Lewis’ beloved classic is listed among other notables like JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird as one of the top 50 novels . The list, which was featured in the Telegraph.co.uk story about Play.com’s top 50 Novels, listed some of the 50 best novels of all time.

Here is a look at the top 10 novels:

1. To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee

2. Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien

3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- C.S Lewis

4. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

5. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown

6. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

7. Animal Farm – George Orwell

8. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – JK Rowling

10. Lord of the Flies – William Golding

Give the full list a look over if you are interested in getting ideas for what to read this summer. Here at NarniaFans, of course, we recommend you start with Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first and then read Lord of the Rings. Once you’re done, I’d say read Pride & Prejudice followed by Great Expectations. After that it’s all up to you.

You can read the full list here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk

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James A. Owen is the author of a series called “The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica.” The first book in the series, “Here, There Be Dragons” introduced us to the characters that would become the heroes of the stories: Jack, John and Charles.

Jack is actually C.S. Lewis, John is J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles is Charles Williams. They were each members of a group called the Inklings. This series is based on fictional adventures that these characters embarked on, into the Archipelago of Dreams, where they became Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica.

The second book in the series is titled “The Search for the Red Dragon,” and introduces new characters and a few more writers from that era to the story.

Now, author James A. Owen has revealed the cover art for the third book in the series: The Indigo King.

Having listened to the books on CD (I have the unabridged audio books!), I am very curious to learn what happens next in the adventures through the Archipelago of Dreams.

Check out the cover art on James A. Owen’s LiveJournal, and come and see him at LionCon, later this month!

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There’s a rumor that is about to spread, starting at “My Park Magazine.” That rumor is that James McAvoy, Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is close to signing to play Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo del Toro’s The Hobbit.

James McAvoy is set to play Bilbo Baggins in ‘The Hobbit‘.

Film bosses are rumoured to be close to signing McAvoy – who played the faun Mr. Tumnus in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe‘ – to play the fantasy hero in the big screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book.

An insider said: “A number of names have privately been doing the rounds, including Daniel Radcliffe and Jack Black but James is the one the film’s bosses really want. They’re expected to have talks with him soon so hopefully it could be confirmed in the not too distant future.”

Director Guillermo del Toro has refused to comment on the rumours, only saying: “I can tell you it’s down to a few names that we all agree upon. For our first choice we all said the same name, it was completely magical.”

‘The Hobbit‘ is the prequel to the ‘Lord of the Rings‘ trilogy.

In the recent movies directed by Peter Jackson, Baggins was played by Ian Holm.

I’d like to point something out, though. They did not get that quote from del Toro with regards to James McAvoy. In fact, no names have been mentioned yet. Not McAvoy, not Jack Black and most certainly not Radcliffe. Daniel Radcliffe will be too busy filming Harry Potter 7 and 8 for The Hobbit, anyway, I am sure.

No, the quote is from Empire Online, which goes on to say: Obviously the script is yet to be written by Jackson, Del Toro and Philippa Boyens, so there won’t be a name attached to this for some time (despite poking with sticks Del Toro was mum on the identity of the actor, who probably doesn’t know he’s in the frame yet). Del Toro says we can expect “at least a year before we announce any casting”. So, while they have a name in mind, you can count any forthcoming rumours as false, at least until the script is written.

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Prince Caspian. The Lord of the Rings. Harry Potter. Heroes. Battlestar Galactica. Science fiction and fantasy comprise some of today’s top entertainment.

In recognition of the best work within this genre, Denvention 3, the 66th World Science Fiction Convention, recently announced the nominees for this year’s highly coveted Hugo Award —the most prestigious award in the science fiction field. Diana Glyer, a Tolkien/Lewis expert and Azusa Pacific University professor, has secured a spot in the Best Related Book category.

“It is so rare for a book about Tolkien or Lewis to gain this kind of recognition,” said Glyer. “But this is about their interaction. I think there is a renewed interest in creative collaboration, even in business, science, and technology. We are in the age of Wikinomics: it’s not so much about being a solitary genius as it is about teamwork, relationships, and context.”

A book that has captured the attention of creative writers, Lewis and Tolkien scholars, and science fiction fans, Glyer’s The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community (Kent State University Press, 2007) explores:

The Inklings
Small-group dynamics
Transformation
The creative process

Glyer’s book describes writers in community, and her home life illustrates it. “My husband and I are both writers,” she said. “Our desks stand side by side in our converted garage. We constantly turn to one another for encouragement, and feedback.” Her husband, Mike Glyer, edits File 770, a science fiction news magazine. He is an eight-time Hugo winner, and File 770 has been nominated again this year for Best Fanzine.

The Hugo Awards, given for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy, have been awarded since 1953. Final awards will be announced at Denvention’s Hugo Awards Ceremony on Sat., Aug. 9. For more information on the nomination, visit www.devention.org or www.thehugoawards.org. For information on Glyer and her book, visit www.theplaceofthelion.com.

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