Narnia Fans » Oxford

The C. S. Lewis Society announces that the spring tour to England is now closed.  The Society is very thankful as the response from Narnia fans worldwide has been very positive and encouraging and the tour is moving forward anticipating the trip of a lifetime.

In the Spirit of that anticipation, Douglas Gresham (who will be guiding the Oxford leg of the tour) has been kind enough to share an essay (originally published in Silver Leaves) that provides a refreshing glimpse of the many Inklings he attended with his stepfather, C. S. Lewis. There are many books about the Oxford Inklings (J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams & others) but Douglas’ essay is from a rather unique perspective – sitting around the table with them!  Shards of Diamonds can be found at www.oxfordspires.wordpress.com.

It is of common knowledge that both Lewis and Tolkien took part in the First World War, and that in the years following the conflict they became distinguished scholars of the English language and literature at Oxford University. Those who accuse these writers of escapism tend to overlook the fact that such a curriculum vitae would make it virtually impossible for them to remain ignorant of, and not to at least in some way reflect in their own writing, the events that changed the world and the literature in the first half of the twentieth century. This paper aims to offer a new approach to the place of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings in this common context, and also to discuss how these works differ from each other with reference to the way in which they combine Christian and pagan elements.

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Darren Jacobs was kind enough to forward another update on the C.S. Lewis 2009 Tour.  The update comes by way of the C.S. Lewis Society.

We have added a new and exciting dimension to our C.S. Lewis Society’s tour, “The Path of C.S. Lewis and British Christianity.” Douglas Gresham, the step-son of C.S. Lewis, will be our special guest for the Oxford portion of our nine-day educational tour of England, May 31st through June 8th, 2009. He will personally accompany us as we visit the colleges at Oxford, tour the Kilns (Lewis’s and Douglas’s home in Oxford,) and enjoy an evening meal at the Trout Inn, where J. R. R. Tolkien ate often with “Jack.” He will travel with us as we visit the Eagle and Child Pub, where Lewis gathered with his Christian soul mates, the “Inklings.” It is an incredible honor for our society to have Mr. Gresham with us, who is co-producer of the two recent Narnia Disney films. It is gracious of him to share with us his personal life-memories of his years with C.S. Lewis.

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The C. S. Lewis Society is delighted to present “The Path of C. S. Lewis and British Christianity,” a nine-day educational tour of England, May 31st through June 8th, 2009. With its main focus on Oxford and Cambridge, the trip has been designed to touch minds and hearts –to inform and transform. By tracing the remarkable spread of the gospel in Great Britain and beyond-and C.S. Lewis’s unique role in that advance-we seek to inspire a vision of what God can do yet again, facing today’s challenges.

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Christian artist Vicky Beeching is going to be performing some songs,  but mostly, she says, speaking on C.S. Lewis for ‘Narnia Day.’  Part of their Homeschool Days.

Next week I am speaking at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. I’m singing a couple of songs too, but most of it will be me speaking about C S Lewis. They are holding a “Narnia Day” centered around the Prince Caspian exhibit they have there. Apparently there’s someone dressed up as Caspian, and some scenes from the movie rebuilt that you can walk around. So watch this space for a photo of me and Prince Caspian!

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Charn_Tim had the pleasure of going to the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s summer conference this year, and I asked him to write a little bit about his experience. He writes:

The C.S. Lewis Foundation held its triennial 2 week major international conference, Oxbridge Summer Institute, from July 28th to August 11th at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England. About three hundred attendees from varied backgrounds gathered at Oxbridge for a time of fellowship and nourishment of mind, body, and spirit with renowned scholars from the arts and sciences, preachers, business professionals, and literary, visual, and performing artists. Throughout the two week institute these scholars, artists, and professionals addressed this year’s conference theme “The Self and the Search for Meaning” from unique perspectives.

In addition to dynamic teaching, attendees experienced grand artistic performances, including an evensong at the ancient and prestigious Ely Cathedral, a dramatic solo version of Lewis’s classic The Great Divorce by professional actor Tony Lawton, and a full scale orchestral performance with the Institute’s choir. Also offered was a guided tour of C.S. Lewis’ Oxford home, called the Kilns, which has been rebuilt and maintained by the C.S. Lewis Foundation and has now been converted to the C.S. Lewis study center.

Even if one did not participate in Oxbridge 2008, it is still possible to experience some of the great teaching and performances, because all sessions were recorded and will be appearing on the Oxbridge 2008 website within the next month. Furthermore, original papers read in the afternoon academic paper sessions will be submitted to the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s online journal, In Pursuit of Truth, with many expected to appear in upcoming journal issues. And watch for the next Oxbridge Summer Institute, expected in 2011!

Perelandra Project writes: The Oxford C.S. Lewis Society and the Donald Swann Estate are planning a production of PERELANDRA the Opera.

Music: Donald Swann
Libretto: David Marsh
Based on the book by C.S. Lewis

To be performed in its original, three-act version as a ‘theatrical oratorio’.

Place: Oxford, England
Dates: June 2009 (exact dates to be confirmed)

The performance run will be accompanied by a two-day international colloquium on PERELANDRA (book and opera).

Please visit this website regularly for news about the production and the colloquium, and for the announcement of a PERELANDRA art competition.

Join the Facebook Group The Perelandra Project for discussion and updates.

For more information, or to discuss ways of getting involved in the project, please contact the production team.

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.

A former secretary of Oxford author CS Lewis is giving away signed first editions of the author’s Narnia books to raise money to renovate a city church.

The Oxford Oratory Church of St Aloysius, in Woodstock Road, is set to receive the windfall thanks to the generosity of Walter Hooper.

The church is launching a £3m appeal to carry out renovation work and build a new chapel and student accommodation.

Mr Hooper, 77, who lives in North Oxford, briefly worked as CS Lewis’s private secretary in 1963, shortly before the author’s death.

After Lewis’s death, Mr Hooper devoted himself to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe author’s memory and co-wrote the author’s biography, and edited his letters and diaries.

He said: “I have kept these books close to me all these years but when this appeal came up, I wanted to do something.

“In a way it will be a wrench to part with the books but in another way I’m glad, because they might do some good.

“CS Lewis gave away two thirds of his income and it was wonderfully liberating to see a man who did not seem to amass wealth at all – he really was a good man.”

Mr Hooper will retain a copy of Lewis’s poetry volume Spirits in Bondage, because he still finds inspiration from the verses.

Mr Hooper has donated 11 CS Lewis titles, including three signed first editions – The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, The Horse And His Boy and The Last Battle.

All 11 books are estimated to sell for up to £3,000 each at auction in London next month, with the hammer price boosted by the release today of the movie version of Prince Caspian. The books will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in London on July 17.

This year marks the 110th anniversary of Lewis’s birth in Belfast on November 29, 1898.

Philip Berrington, books specialist for Sotheby’s, said: “With the film of Prince Caspian coming out, the timing for this auction couldn’t be better. The connection between Walter Hooper and CS Lewis makes these books very collectable.”

The Oxford Oratory was built in 1875. Redecoration will restore marble, stonework and stencilling of the original Victorian design.

A smaller chapel for Masses, pilgrimage groups and baptisms will be added, together with a small garden.

This summer offers a rare opportunity for you to spend one week at The Kilns, the beloved home of C.S. Lewis in Oxford, England!

Imagine living in the same charming brick cottage where C.S. Lewis lived for most of his adult life, and also to:

· Grow in your own spiritual journey through lectures, discussion and reflection in the peaceful setting of The Kilns and around England

· Experience the historic settings of Lewis’ spiritual journey and conversion story, including Addison’s Walk at Magdalen College

· Feast on the fellowship and delightful offerings from the kitchen at The Kilns; take afternoon tea on the lawn beneath blossoming fruit trees; and find the perfect Cornish pasty at the Covered Market in Oxford

· Share this adventure among new friends eager to engage the times with a vibrant living faith

You’ll find all this and more at the Summer Seminars-in-Residence at The Kilns.

Act now to reserve your place at the table and to experience this unique opportunity!

Week I
July 5 – 11, 2008

Dr. Chris Mitchell Director, Marion E. Wade Center and Professor of Theology,
Wheaton College

Register Now!

Week II
July 13-19, 2008

Dr. Devin Brown Author and Professor of English,
Asbury College

Register Now!

For detailed seminar descriptions and registration information, please visit the Summer Seminar website or call toll-free 1-888-CSLEWIS.

For an unforgettable inside visit to the world of Lewis’ Oxford and Cambridge, this most uniqe program offers the definitive experience. You simply won’t want to miss it!

* Program details are subject to change.