"Of Other Worlds: 75 Years of Narnia"
St. Giles Church, Oxford, England
Sunday evening, July 6 - Friday evening, July 11, 2025
Registration Form (.pdf)
Pre-registration will open on July 1, 2024
In 1950, C. S. Lewis published a book his friends and his publisher advised him not to write. The great apologist and major literary critic wrote a children's book called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It actually did well. In fact, it is still in print. Before he finished writing it, he had an idea for a second book, and before the second one was finished, he had an idea for third. Each time, he that the one he was writing was the last, but the ideas kept coming until he had written the seven books that comprise The Chronicles of Narnia. As we gather in Oxford in July 2025, we will consider the wonder and the implications for these stories.
Workshop Overview
Morning Sessions
Morning sessions will be held at St. Giles Church, situated in its own grounds across the street from The Eagle and Child pub where the Inklings met every Tuesday morning for many decades. Just down the street is Somerville College where Dorothy L. Sayers studied and Keble College where C. S. Lewis was in the Officer Training Corps. Our speakers will include Michael Snape, Cindy Zudys, Simon Horobin, Sarah Waters, Colin Duriez, Sharon Jebb Smith, Nigel Goodwin, Rebecca Poe Hays, Don King, Hal Poe, and many more.
Daily Schedule
- 8:30 — Morning Worship
- 9:00 — Plenary Address
- 10:00 — Coffee and Tea
- 10:30 — Second Breakfast (an artistic meal for the soul after having fed the body)
- 11:00 — Plenary Address
- 12:00 — Lunch on your own with new friends
Schedule Extras
- Sunday, 6pm - Evensong
- Friday, 6pm - River cruise on the Isis
Afternoons in Oxford
The afternoons will be given over to relishing all that Oxford offers. Discover the town that fueled the imaginations behind Narnia and Middle Earth. Visit the colleges where the Inklings taught and thought. Walk the gardens and stroll the river paths. Visit the museums and the bookstores. Then go punting on the same river where Jack Lewis spent time in his undergraduate days, and where Rattie and Mole went boating near Toad Hall. Venture forth into the Cotswolds or nearby towns of Winchester, Stratford, Bath, and Salisbury. Have tea at Blenheim Palace or Highclere Castle where Downton Abbey was filmed. — We will also have an academic paper session of the Christianity in the Academy conference.
Evenings in Oxford
The evenings we will provide the opportunity experience the cultural feast available in Oxford as Lewis, Tolkien, and the Inklings did with a variety of concerts and plays. Orchestral concerts, Shakespearean plays, Oscar Wilde revivals, and more fill the summer evenings. Or take the train into London for a play in the West End!
Eating in Oxford
The most important of all social occasions is the meal, and the Inklings certainly did their best to make the most of it, as might be expected of Hobbits. Eat at the favorite haunts of the Inklings, and at some new additions to the Oxford far since their time. And don't miss the sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream!
