GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Grove City College Department of English will sponsor the seventh annual Christian Writers Conference, titled “C. S. Lewis & the Inklings: Communion of Saints,” from April 3 to 5 on the Grove City College campus. The conference seeks to increase interest and knowledge of C.S. Lewis and the other Inkling writers.

“The ‘Inklings’ were a circle of several friends of C.S. Lewis who met regularly in his rooms at Oxford University and who shared his commitments to Christianity, literature, writing and scholarship,” said Dr. James Dixon, chair of the English department. “The most famous of these include J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams.” Dixon added that Dorothy L. Sayers, though not technically an “Inkling,” is often included in this group.

The featured speakers will be Drs. James Como and Jerry Root. Como is Professor of Rhetoric and Public Communication at York College (CUNY), where he founded the Speech discipline in 1968. A founding member of the New York C. S. Lewis Society (1969), Como has published “Remembering C.S. Lewis” (formerly “C.S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table”) and Branches to Heaven: The Geniuses of C.S. Lewis. His upcoming book is “Mild, Militant and Mere: Essays on C.S. Lewis.” He has also written on Lewis for such journals as “National Review,” “Seven,” “The Wilson Quarterly” and “The New Criterion.” He was a commentator on “The Question of God” for PBS, on “Beyond Narnia” for The Hallmark Channel and on “The Life of C.S. Lewis” for Day of Discovery.

Root has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on C.S. Lewis at three different colleges and universities and lectured about Lewis throughout the United States, as well as in many other countries. He is the co-editor, with Wayne Martindale, of “The Quotable C.S. Lewis.” He has also published chapters in numerous books and written many articles in periodicals and magazines on Lewis topics. Currently he teaches at Wheaton College in Illinois, and is a visiting professor at Biola University and Talbot Graduate School of Theology.

The list of events open to the public includes:

8 p.m., April 3 – Dramatic presentation based on C.S. Lewis’ novel “Till We Have Faces”
9 a.m., April 4 – Opening address by James Como
3:40 p.m., April 4 – Film screening of “Beyond Narnia”
5 p.m., April 4 – Choral presentation
5:45 p.m., April 4 – Banquet with James Como, speaker
8 p.m., April 4 – Reader’s Theater presentation of scenes from Charles Williams' play “Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury”
9 a.m., April 5 – Address by Jerry Root
12:50 p.m., April 5 – Address by Jerry Root
1:45 p.m., April 5 – Panel comprised of James Como, Jerry Root and other Inkling scholars

Lectures and “Beyond Narnia” will be presented in Sticht Lecture Hall in the Hall of Arts and Letters with the exception of the Friday evening lecture, which will be given in Old MAP Cafeteria.

The conference is open to the public and costs $85 for early registration – prior to March 17 – and $95 after that. This includes the banquet on Friday, lunch on Friday and Saturday, afternoon tea on Saturday and other refreshments, as well as the lectures. Attendance for partials events is available at a cost of $20 (banquet only) for $40 for other combinations. For more information, contact Dr. Janice Brown, professor of English and co-vice president of the C.S. Lewis and Inkling Society for 2007-08, at (724) 458-2052 or jbbrown@gcc.edu. Or visit the conference’s web site at http://www2.gcc.edu/dept/engl/conference.

The C.S. Lewis and Inklings Society, created in 2004, hosts the annual C.S. Lewis and Inklings Conference. The Society reflects and furthers the passion of Lewis and the Inklings for Christ and Christianity through the literature and fine arts.

C.S. Lewis and Inklings conferences have been held annually since 1998. Meetings have been hosted by universities in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The 11th annual conference will be held again at Grove City College.