Why the Inklings Still Matter in 2015: An Interview with Carol and Philip Zaleski on <em>The Fellowship</em>

July 01, 2015 by Greg Garrett

Continued from Page 2

In The Company They Keep, Diana Pavlac Glyer demonstrates (against claims by Humphrey Carpenter and others to the contrary), that there are clear signs in their individual works of mutual influence. Glyer is continuing to investigate the creative power of collaboration, among the Inklings and also in other literary circles, as a source of inspiration and guidance for writers of all kinds.

Finally, as your last question suggests, there is a long history of informal intellectual clubs. We mention the 18th-century Scriblerus Club, which included Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and John Arbuthnot as well as Samuel Johnson's dinner-and-discussion circle, called "The Club," and we compare the Inklings to the older, convention-busting Bloomsbury Group. This is just the tip of the iceberg, of course. Think of Wordsworth and Coleridge; their Lyrical Ballads may be regarded as inaugurating the literary and spiritual movement to which the Inklings, as latter-day Romantics, were heir. And though "clubbability" is a British phenomenon, with its heyday during the expansion of the British empire, there are plenty of examples to consider on our own shores — the Metaphysical Club, for example, to which Louis Menand devoted a wonderful book.

Page: 3 of 3

7/1/2015 4:00:00 AM

Progressive Christian

Faithful Citizenship

C.S. Lewis

Charles Williams

History

Inklings

J.R.R. Tolkien

literature

Owen Barfield

Progressive Christianity

Christianity

Protestantism

more at patheos

This is the Night God Makes All Things New

Billy Kangas

Safety Is Falling Behind Frontier AI Capabilities

Gleb Tsipursky

Being Altogether Here, Present to Life

Larry Jordan

Archbishop Broglio Leads Sacred Heart Consecration

William Hemsworth

About Greg Garrett

Greg Garrett is (according to BBC Radio) one of America's leading voices on religion and culture. He is the author or co-author of over twenty books of fiction, theology, cultural criticism, and spiritual autobiography. His most recent books are The Prodigal, written with the legendary Brennan Manning, Entertaining Judgment: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination, and My Church Is Not Dying: Episcopalians in the 21st Century. A contributor to Patheos since 2010, Greg also writes for the Huffington Post, Salon.com, OnFaith, The Tablet, Reform, and other web and print publications in the US and UK.

Patheos Logo Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos