I posted earlier today about the C.S. Lewis Society of California. I might note for those interested, that a conference on C.S. Lewis is scheduled for October 26 and 27, 2007 on the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. Invited speakers include Walter Hooper, James Como, and Bruce Edwards, all well known to Lewis aficionados. Professor Bruce Edwards has a personal website with a link to his blog, Further Up and Further In.
On July 27th, Edwards posted reviews on his blog of some new books related to C.S. Lewis. Of The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Pavlac Glyer, Edwards wrote:
Diana Glyer’s impressive achievement immediately supersedes in scope and authority all previous treatments of the Inklings in extant biographies and encyclopedia. . . This volume so surpasses in wisdom and cogency the late Humphrey Carpenter’s "The Inklings," I would urge you to sell your copy back to the used bookstore from whence it may have come, take the proceeds, and buy this one. It is a model of responsive, responsible, lucidly written scholarly work worthy of Lewis’s own high standards. It both educates and entertains. Selah
Well, it so happens I bought a copy of Carpenter's book The Inklings years ago and just may take Bruce Edward's advice and turn it in! (Though I probably won't, since I find it hard to part with books).
He also reviews Teaching C. S. Lewis by Richard A. Hill and Lyle Smith. This book looks really interesting. I am always wondering how to teach or structure a class on C.S. Lewis. Edwards says it's
a very fine, compact volume that will help Sunday School teachers, novice and advanced readers, pastors, and campus faculty to plan and teach C. S. Lewis courses in their respective venues. Its value is in offering insight in how to teach and engage varied audiences interested in Lewis’s fiction and apologetics. Questions and assignments accompany each chapter focused on a single work of Lewis’s.
Edwards also calls attention to the Summer 07 edition of The Christian Scholars Review which is on “C. S. Lewis and Gender.”
Edwards is a leading scholar of C.S. Lewis and helpfully makes available online his articles and book contributions. He also provides links to other C.S. Lewis sites and to Inkling resources such as The Tolkien Society, The Charles Williams Page, The Dorothy L. Sayers Society, George MacDonald resources, the GKC Website and The American Chesterton Society. Notable also is the Mythopoeic Society.