Welcome to SPACE, our adult continuing education program which offers interactive monthly courses for personal enrichment! Learn more here.

Discussion-based • Medium intensity

If you’re interested in this course...

What did the creators of Middle-earth, Narnia, a philosophy of consciousness, and spiritual shockers have in common? Answer: they were all part of a group called The Inklings who met in Oxford between the 1930s and 60s to discuss their ideas and work.

We will spend a week on each of the four main members of The Inklings, discussing samples of their work and the ways their imaginations and ideas overlapped. By the end of the course, we will understand how this group of writers influenced each other and helped create the genre of fantasy literature.

Required Texts

There are no required texts for this module. Instead, reading extracts will be provided from the following texts which can optionally be read in full by students if they desire:

• Humphrey Carpenter, The Inklings: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Their Friends
• C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
• Owen Barfield, The Silver Trumpet
• Charles Williams, The Place of the Lion
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