upcoming events

2013

  • March 1, 2013
    Christianity in the Academy Conference
    "C. S. Lewis Fifty Years On: What Endures?"
    During the fiftieth anniversary year of the death of C. S. Lewis, we turn to examine his lasting influence on Christians in the academy.
    The Stephen Olford Center of Union University
    Memphis, Tennessee
    Call for Papers (.pdf)
    Registration (.pdf)
  • April 5-7, 2013
    An Inklings Weekend in Montreat
    "Middle Earth: Living between Creation and the New Creation"
    Featuring Ben Mitchell, Nigel Goodwin, Don King, Hal Poe, Alyssa Kraus, Corrie Greene, Philip Wright, and Zach McCain
  • July 14-19, 2013
    An Inklings Week in Oxford
    St. Aldates Church
    Oxford, England
    Join us for a week in Oxford as we commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of C. S. Lewis and the fortieth anniversary of the death of J. R. R. Tolkien.

past events

2012

  • November 9, 2012 - January 9, 2013
    J. R. R. Tolkien Forty Years On
    An exhibit to commemorate the fortieth anniversary year of the death of J. R. R. Tolkien in the Chapel Lobby of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee featuring selections from the Harry Lee Poe Collection - university news release
  • November 9, 2012 - January 2, 2013
    J. R. R. Tolkien Forty Years On
    An exhibit to commemorate the fortieth anniversary year of the death of J. R. R. Tolkien in the Library of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama featuring selections from the Rebecca Whitten Poe Hays Collection - university news release
  • March 30 - April 1, 2012
    An Inklings Weekend in Montreat
    "Science Fiction and the Inklings"
    featuring Hal Poe, Jennifer Gruenke, Dennis Beets, Joshua Hays, and Don King

2011

2010

  • November 21, 2010-January 9, 2011
    The Inklings: Lewis, Tolkien and Their Circle - An Exhibition
    Hughes Main Library, Greenville, SC
    This exhibit includes original artifacts and letters of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and others of the period. The exhibit is open to the public with no admission fee. The exhibit includes selections from the collection of Harry Lee Poe, author of The Inklings of Oxford and co-editor of C. S. Lewis Remembered.
  • December 15, 2010
    The Devil and C. S. Lewis: Chatting about Screwtape
    7:00pm
    Christ Church (Episcopal), Greenville, SC
    Dr. Hal Poe will discuss The Screwtape Letters in relation to the larger body of Lewis's work; including his Preface to Paradise Lost, Perelandra, and The Great Divorce.
  • December 16, 2010
    The Inklings: Lewis, Tolkien and Their Circle
    6:30pm-8:00pm
    Hughes Main Library, Meeting Rooms B-C
    Greenville, SC
    Join Dr. Hal Poe for an in-depth look into the life and literary progression of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings. Dr. Poe will share highlights from his two books, The Inklings of Oxford and C. S. Lewis Remembered. The lecture will be followed by a tour of the exhibit, including a question and answer session. Call 864-527-9293 to register. LEARN MORE

2009 Theme - The Power of Imagination

We take the occasion of the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe in 2009 to explore the difficult phenomenon of imagination. It affects every area of life. For Poe, it formed the bridge between science and faith and the path from atheism to belief in God. Poe's spiritual journey tracked almost identically that of C. S. Lewis for whom imagination also played a key to his conversion. Poe insisted that imagination is not simply a flight from reality but a higher level of understanding than empiricism or rationalism. He insisted that every major breakthrough in science came through imagination, and to demonstrate this remarkable phenomenon, he contradicted the best science of his day (which taught that the universe has an infinite number of stars that have always existed) to propose what we now call "The Big Bang Theory." For Poe, the unavoidable implication of a universe that has a beginning is a God who causes it to begin.

  • January 5-30
    "Edgar Allan Poe and the Power of Imagination" An Edgar Allan Poe Bicentennial Exhibition
    Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, Memphis Public Library, Memphis, TN
  • January 9-10
    C. S. Lewis Seminar on Higher Education
    Stephen Olford Center, Memphis, TN
  • February 13 - March 13
    "Eureka: Poe's Journey of Discovery" An Edgar Allan Poe Bicentennial Exhibition
    The University of the South, Sewanee, TN
  • March 23 - April 19
    "Eureka - What Poe Found" An Edgar Allan Poe Bicentennial Exhibition
    Charleston Library Society, Charleston, SC
  • April 17-19
    Inklings Weekend at Montreat
    Montreat College, Montreat, NC
  • July 31 - August 3
    "Science, Imagination, and Faith" - Symposium
    American Scientific Affiliation annual meeting Baylor University, Waco, TX
  • September 10 - November 27
    "Eureka - What Poe Found" An Edgar Allan Poe Bicentennial Exhibition
    National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg, Russia