Monthly Archives: March 2021

The Other Reasons I Became a C.S. Lewis Scholar

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

An intriguing, fun, and occasionally perverse part of being a scholar in areas where there is a lively fandom is that I am often asked to tell my “encounter” story. This can be a bit strange in that in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged academic writing, C.S. Lewis, Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, culture, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, literature, Mere Christianity, Miroslav Volf, N.T. Wright, PhD Research, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Sallie McFague, theology, Ursula K. Le Guin | 8 Comments

Reading J.R.R. Tolkien by Audiobook and Adaptation: Thoughts on a Portland Discovery

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

It was pouring rain in Portland as Nicolas and I wove our way through the artisan-filled streets of this renewed East Coast City. I love Portland, though we were not visiting on the best of circumstances. Just a couple of … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Andy Serkis, Beren and Lúthien, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mr. Bliss, Nicol Williamson, Peter Jackson, Philip K. Dick, Portland Maine, Stephen King, The Children of Húrin, The Fall of Gondolin, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Tolkien Reading Day, Unfinished Tales | 23 Comments

Ann Radcliffe’s Absolutely Essential “The Mysteries of Udolpho” (1794) and the Books I’d Rather Read

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho: A Romance Interspersed With Some Pieces of Poetry (1794) has been one of those books that I have been wanting to read for some time—wanting to read in one way, but hesitant in another. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged Ann Radcliffe, Becoming Jane, Bleak House, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, feminism, Jane Austen, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, mary shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Michael Lewis, Northanger Abbey, Pamela, Samuel Richardson, Stephen King, Susanna Clarke, The Brothers Karamazov, The Green Mile, The Monk, The Mysteries of Udolpho | 19 Comments

“The Science Fiction Makers” Documentary–and I am In It!

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

As I am a perennially awkward person, I don’t mind admitting that I have always wanted to be on one of those History Channel-type documentaries. True, I hardly ever watch them as it seems when I am in the mood … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Andrew Wall, C.S. Lewis, Diana Pavlac Glyer, documentary, Emily Strand, Madeleine L'Engle, Refuge 31 Films, The Science Fiction Makers, Victor Rousseau | 18 Comments

The Canadian Authors the Prime Minister and Brenton Forgot to Read: Guest Post by Author Mark Sampson

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

I was so grateful and humbled when Brenton included some of my work on his list “The Canadian Books the Prime Minister Forgot to Read,” so I jumped at his invitation to add five more Canadian authors of my own … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged Amy Jones, Canadian literature, Esi Edugyan, John Wall Barger, Lynn Coady, Mark Sampson, Ray Smith | 2 Comments

The Thieves of Time and Waking Wonder: Writing as Discovery and the Stone-Carver’s Art

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

After weeks of too little sleep, I have had two terrible half-nights awake. These torturous midnight hours of hazy, half-insomniac puzzles and quandaries and obsessions, the darkness that infuses weariness into the bone-soul of life… I would purchase a single … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged academic writing, C.S. Lewis, CBC, Dymer, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, JP Saxe, L.M. Montgomery, Q, The Screwtape Letters, Till We Have Faces, writing | 9 Comments

Canadian Authors the Prime Minister Forgot to Read (a #canadareads post)

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Narcity did this little piece last week: “Justin Trudeau Wants Everyone To Read More Canadian Books & Here Are Some Options.” The Prime Minister mentions: Margaret Atwood L.M. Montgomery Douglas Coupland Robertson Davies Heather O’Neill This is all in celebration … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Afrofuturism, apocalyptic literature, Canada Reads, CBC, dystopia, Emily St. John Mandel, Guy Gavriel Kay, L.M. Montgomery, Louise Bernice Halfe, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Margaret Atwood, Mark Sampson, Michael Crummey, Miriam Toews, Nalo Hopkins, The Fionavar Tapestry, Trudeau, Yann Martel | 26 Comments

Biography of Dr. Brenton Dickieson

Posted on March 7, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Brenton D.G. Dickieson (BA, MCS, PhD) For fifteen years, Brenton Dickieson (PhD, Chester, 2020) has taught at the University of Prince Edward Island. Returning to the home of his undergraduate studies in 2006, he is now the Lecturer in Theology … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Original Research | Tagged academic, academic writing, C.S. Lewis, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, research, scholarship, spiritual theology | 10 Comments

The Romantic Theology Doctorate (DTM) at Northwind Seminary

Posted on March 5, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Hi friends. As some of you know, I do a lot of teaching online. Beyond my local teaching, I have been a distance education instructor in a variety of forms for 16 years now. Continuing a series from last year, … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Charlie Starr, Crystal Hurd, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Michael Christensen, Northwind Seminary, owen barfield, romantic theology, spiritual theology, Terry Glaspey, Theology of Culture, Theology of the Small, William O'Flaherty | 8 Comments

“A Very Mean Rank”: William Shakespeare, Brian Grazer, and Biographies that are Too Good to be True

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

As background to my year of reading Shakespeare (one play a month), I am reading Peter Ackroyd’s biography of Shakespeare. As in all of Akroyd’s historical writing, it is accessible, thoughtful, and remarkably quick-moving for a long book. He writes … Continue reading →