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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With the film release a week away, a Hope College professor wants to help moviegoers understand the symbolism in C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

English professor Peter Schakel, author of “The Way Into Narnia: A Readers’ Guide” (Eerdmans William B Publishing Co.), said a good start is to toss out the notion that “Chronicles” is an allegory.

“Some people think of them as allegories (stories in which the meaning is represented symbolically), but Lewis said very emphatically he did not want to them be read as allegories,” said Schakel.

“My intention is to talk about how to read ‘Chronicles of Narnia.’”

Schakel will give a lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Hastings Public Library, 121 S. Church St., Hastings, Michigan. Admission is free.

Lewis, who died the same day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated — Nov. 22, 1963 — believed he would reach a wider base of readers by alluding to the Bible, Schakel said.

“If it’s an allegory and people don’t recognize the parallels, then you really missed something,” Schakel said. “For those who don’t recognize the allusion, they can still get a lot out of the story.”

Schakel believes “Chronicles” was made into a film because of the box office success of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” which many say allude to the Bible.

Schakel has taught college students about both authors’ books for more than 35 years.

“I think the triggering event is the success of Tolkien movies,” said Schakel. “They saw the real potential in Lewis’ books.”

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