About the Pilgrim in Narnia, Dr. Brenton Dickieson

Brenton D.G. Dickieson (BA, MCS, PhD)

Brenton Dickieson (PhD) is the curator of A Pilgrim in Narnia, the host and founding producer of the MaudCast: The Official Podcast of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Institute, and the author of The Spiritual Imagination of C.S. Lewis (OUP 2026). Brenton is an Assistant Professor of Arts and University Studies Coordinator at UPEI, a founding member of the Curiosity and Inquiry Research and Collaboration Lab (CIRCL), and a faculty coach, lecturer, and preceptor at Signum University. In the near-fantastical land of PEI, he shares his home with his wife Kerry, a superstar kindergarten teacher, and Nicolas, a songwriter and critic who uses the Spare Oom for his recording studio, while Brenton’s office is in a damp corner in the basement.

The Spiritual Imagination of C.S. Lewis (OUP 2026)

I made this book! Check it out:

With book sales exceeding 200 million copies, a billion-dollar film industry, and a bookshelf of critical, philosophical, and popular works, C.S. Lewis is at once the beloved author of The Chronicles of Narnia and a leading twentieth-century English-speaking Christian public intellectual. Given the sheer diversity of Lewis’s writing, what holds all this together? What is the beating heart of Lewis’ work?

Among C.S. Lewis scholars, there is near-unanimous agreement with British philosopher Owen Barfield’s claim that, “what Lewis thought about everything was secretly present in what he said about anything.” In The Spiritual Imagination of C.S. Lewis, Brenton D. G. Dickieson argues that what Lewis reveals throughout his writings is a cross-shaped, or cruciform, spirituality. As an instinctive and integrative writer of spiritual theology, Lewis believed that “death is at the root of the whole matter”—that God’s self-surrender in Christ through death on a cross and subsequent resurrection is the normative pattern for a healthy spiritual life. This death-and-resurrection pattern unites Lewis’s Christian thought and produces a hopeful and evocative spirituality that is embedded in his poetry and prose.

By reconsidering him as a spiritual theologian, Dickieson uncovers a six-point “Logic of Cruciformity” in Lewis’s apologetics that is embedded in narrative form throughout his other works. The shape of the cross is the shape of Lewis’s spiritual theology. With the “upsidedownedness” of childlike wonder, Lewis reveals what Dickieson calls a “Theology of the Small,” filled with “sacred paradoxes” and offering a hopeful, transformative invitation to spiritual life.

About A Pilgrim in Narnia

“A Pilgrim in Narnia” is a blog project in reading and talking about the work of C.S. Lewis and the worlds he touched, like children’s literature, apologetics, myths and mythology, fantasy, theology, cultural criticism, and writing, as well as the work of his fellow Inklings J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams, and other imaginative writers, like L.M. Montgomery, Dorothy Sayers, Terry Pratchett, and whoever else is on my bedside table today.

Personally, Lewis’ work draws me in. From the The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe as contraband Christian theology in my childhood to the clarity of his thinking in The Screwtape Letters or Mere Christianity, I am invited into Lewis’ Narnia, his world where the real is more than touch and taste and scent, where it is increasingly evident there is more than there is and there is meaning behind that is-ness.

This blog includes my thoughts as I read through his work and reflect on my own life and culture. In this sense, I am a Pilgrim in Narnia–as well as a Pilgrim in Avonlea, Middle-earth, Discworld, and a dozen other worlds. If something here captures your imagination, leave a comment, “like” a post, share with your friends, or sign up to receive Narnian Pilgrim posts in your email box.

Dr. Brenton Dickieson’s Select CV

Education

PhD, Theology & Religious Studies (2013-2019)
University of Chester, UK
Thesis: “The Great Story on Which the Plot Turns”: Cruciformity in C.S. Lewis’ Narrative Spiritual Theology

Masters of Christian Studies (2003-2005)
Regent College, BC
Thesis: “Antisemitism and the Judaistic Paul: A Study of 1 Thess 2:14-16 in Light of Paul’s Social and Rhetorical Contexts and the Contemporary Question of Antisemitism”

B.A., Bible (1993-1997)
Maritime Christian College, PE

Teaching Experience

University of Prince Edward Island (2006-present)

Coordinator of University 1000, BIS Coordinator, Assistant Professor of Arts (2025-present)

Applied Communication, Leadership, and Culture (2021-present)

  • Practitioner in Residence (2021)
  • Assistant Professor (two 5-month terms) (2022)
  • Sessional Instructor (2023-present)

Courses Taught

  • ACLC 1060: Putting Arts to Work I
  • ACLC 1080: Digital Literacy
  • ACLC 2080: Digital Humanities
  • ACLC 2910/Eng 2910 (Winter 2022) and ACLC 3910/Eng 3910 (Spring 2023): C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia: Leadership, Communication, and Culture
  • ACLC 3060: Putting Arts to Work II
  • ACLC 3080: Leadership for a Changing World
  • ACLC 3910: Podcasting (Winter 2025; Winter 2026)
  • ACLC 4000: Advanced Workshop in Applied Communication
  • ACLC 4060: Putting Arts to Work III
  • UNIV/ACLC 2030: Introduction to Leadership Studies (Winter 2023; Fall 2025; Fall 2026)

Inquiry Studies (University 1020) Team Member (13.5 sections) (2015-2025)

Global Issues Term Lecturer and Sessional Instructor (10 sections) (2008-2013)

Sessional Lecturer, Faculty of Arts, Religious Studies (2006-present)

Taught 19 different courses in 35 sections in the following areas:

  • Popular Courses like “Skepticism, Atheism, Agnosticism, Belief,” “Religion and the End of the World,” “Myths of Love, Sex, and Marriage,” and “Myths of Hate and Evil”
  • Religions of the World (Western Traditions, twice with an African focus)
  • Worldviews and Cultural Mythologies; Japanese Religion and Culture
  • Christian Studies (Early and Modern)
  • Christian Thought and Theology
  • The Old Testament, The New Testament
  • Cross-listed with Asian Studies: Japanese Religion and Culture; Civilization and Tradition of West Asia; Introduction to Japanese History and Culture
  • Religious Movements and Conflict; Islam & Western Culture; Judaism & Antisemitism

Lecturer and Preceptor, Faculty Coach, Signum University (2016-present)

SignumU is an established online university offering an MA in literature to a growing global community of adult learners. Using technological ingenuity and cutting-edge pedagogy, Signum provides a high-quality education based on core values, focussing on areas such as Germanic Philology, Mythological and Classical Literature, and Imaginative Literature. I lecture or work as a small group instructor (Preceptor), including: “Introduction to Research, Theory, and Writing” (2017, 2018, 2019), “Folkloric Transformations: Vampires and Big Bad Wolves” (2016, 2020), “Mythologies of Love and Sex” (2016; 2019), “Literature, Film, and Technoculture” (2018), “Lewis & Tolkien” (2020), “Ursula K. Le Guin: Worldbuilder” (2021). I have supervised seven masters’ theses and am currently supervising the eighth. As of 2021, I am also Signum’s Faculty Coach, an advisory position for members of the teaching staff.

Adjunct Instructor in Literature, The King’s College, NY (2017-2023)

I developed the curriculum for “The Fantasy and Science Fiction of C.S. Lewis,” an intensive undergraduate-level literature online course. I taught the course seven times, each spring semester, using lecture and discussion to guide the reading of Lewis’ most popular fiction.

Adjunct Lecturer in Theology and Literature, Maritime Christian College, PE (2006-2022      )

Taught 27 courses in the following areas:

  • Religion and Literature (Classical Literature, Speculative Fiction, Folklore, Poetry, etc.)
  • New Religious Movements, World Religions, Worldviews and Culture, Philosophy
  • Leadership, Oral Communications, and Homiletics
  • Biblical Greek (two semesters on a three-year rotation; Guided Reading Group)
  • Courses in Bible and Theology (both core courses and community short courses)

Distance Education Instructor in Spiritual Theology, Regent College, BC (2005-2020)

Regent College’s international graduate distance education program includes online virtual classrooms and personal tutorials. From 2005-2013 I was TA Marker for Rikk Watts’ “New Testament Foundations,” as well as other courses including “Old Testament in the New” (Rikk Watts), “Matthew” (Rikk Watts), “The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul” (Gordon Fee). Until 2020, I was an Instructor in Spiritual Theology for Eugene Peterson’s courses, including “Soulcraft: Spiritual Formations,” focussing on the book of Ephesians, and “Jesus and Prayer.”

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  • 2026: The Spiritual Imagination of C.S. Lewis, Oxford University Press, 2026.
  • 2026: “Networks.” The Oxford Handbook of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Dimitra Fimi and Luke Shelton. Oxford University Press, under contract 6,500 words, forthcoming 2026.
  • 2025: “A Curious Synchronicity: Religious Studies as Inquiry-Based Learning in Higher Education.” Applying Inquiry-based Learning in Higher Education Across Disciplines, edited by Beth Archer-Kuhn and Stacey L. MacKinnon, Cambridge Scholars Press, 2025.
  • 2021: “Making Friends with the Darkness: L.M. Montgomery’s Popular Theodicy in Anne’s House of Dreams,” accepted with slight revision for peer-review publication in The Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies; in revision.
  • 2020: “A Cosmic Shift in The Screwtape Letters,” Mythlore 39, no. 1 (2020): 5-33.
  • 2020: “Rainbow Valley as Embodied Heaven: L.M. Montgomery’s Narrative Spirituality in Rainbow Valley,” Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies (2020).
  • 2019: “The Archangel Fragment and C. S. Lewis’s WWII-era World-building Project,” Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal 13 (2019): 11-28. Co-authored with Charlie W. Starr.
  • 2018: “Mixed Metaphors and Hyperlinked Worlds: A Study of Intertextuality in C.S. Lewis’s Ransom Cycle” pp. 81-113 in The Inklings and King Arthur: J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on the Matter of Britain (ed. Sørina Higgins, Apocryphile Press).
  • 2013: “Nuestra Señora de las Sombras: The Enigmatic Identity of Santa Muerte,” Journal of the Southwest 55, no. 4 (Winter 2013): 435-471. Co-authored with Pamela Bastante.
  • 2013: “The Unpublished Preface to C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters,” Notes and Queries 60, no. 2 (2013): 296-298.

Academic Conference Papers

  • Accepted 2026: “On Failing to Finish Bleheris,” Conference Paper at the Undiscovered C.S. Lewis Conference at George Fox University, Portland, OR, Sep 24-27, 2026.
  • 2026: “Rewilding Avonlea: Features of Anne’s Imaginative Remapping of Avonlea,” Conference Paper at The L.M. Montgomery Institute’s 17th Biennial Conference, UPEI, Jun 25-28, 2026.
  • 2025: Iași, Romania: “‘At war with all wild things’: A Settler’s Reflections on C.S. Lewis and Indigenous Spaces,” Conference Paper at the C.S. Lewis International Interdisciplinary Conference at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iași, Romania, Nov 19-22, 2025.
  • 2025: Halifax, NS: “The Monster in Me: C.S. Lewis’ Inversion of the Monstrous Other in his Speculative Fiction.” Monster Fest 2025, Oct 28-31, 2025.
  • 2025: Leesburg, VA: “Being Hnau in the Age of AI: A View from Hogwarts.” Mythmoot XII: Drawn to the Edge, Jun 19-22, 2025.
  • 2024: Yale, CT: “Passports to the Geography of Fairyland: Experimental Field Notes
    on George MacDonald’s Socio-ecological Imaginary.” The Genius of George MacDonald Conference, Drexel University & Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Dec 14, 2024.
  • 2024: Wheaton, IL: “George MacDonald’s Spiritual Theology of the Imagination and the Prophetic Critique of Anne of Green Gables.” George MacDonald Bicentenary Conference, Wheaton College, May 31, 2024.
  • 2024: Charlottetown, PE: “Anne’s Theological Critique of Pastoral Ministry.” The L.M. Montgomery Institute’s 16th Biennial Conference, UPEI, Jun 20, 2024.
  • 2023: Leesburg, VA: “‘Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, nowhere to be free’: A Settler’s Reflections on Indigenous Spaces and ‘Negotiated Symbiosis’ in Octavia Butler’s Literature.” Mythmoot X: Homeward Bound, June 22-25, 2023.
  • 2023: Toronto, ON: “A Faculty for Friendship: The Quest of Bleheris and the Roots of Co-Subcreation in C.S. Lewis’ Writing.” The Christianity and Literature Study Group Annual Conference at Congress2023, May 27, 2023.
  • 2022: Charlottetown, PE: “Montgomery’s Images of God for ‘Pilgrims on the Golden Road of Youth.’” The L.M. Montgomery Institute’s 15th Biennial Conference, Jun 24, 2022.
  • 2022: Kalamazoo, MI: “Medieval Models and Lewisian Intertextuality: A Quest for a New Metaphor,” in the special session, “C.S. Lewis and the Middle Ages I: Dante and the Lewis Circle (in Honor of Marsha Daigle Williamson),” at the 57th International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 14, 2022.
  • 2022: Montreal, ON: “The Underlying Thought of Old Solar in C.S. Lewis’ Ransom Cycle.” The Christianity and Literature Study Group Annual Conference at Congress2022, May 10, 2022.
  • 2022: Digital: “Implications of the Ransom Preface of The Screwtape Letters,” for the Screwtape Letters Pop-up Mini-conference, Inklings Folk Fellowship, Feb 18, 2022.
  • 2021: Edmonton, AB: “The Personal Heresy and C.S. Lewis’ Autoethnographic Instinct: An Invitation to Intimacy in Literature and Theology.” The Christianity and Literature Study Group Annual Conference at Congress2021, May 28-29, 2021.
  • 2021: Edmonton, AB: “Michael Gorman’s Narrative Spiritual Theology and C.S. Lewis’ Logic of Cruciformity: A Conversation Across Generations and Disciplines.” The Canadian-American Theological Association Meeting at Congress2021, May 28, 2021.
  • 2020, Upland, IN: “The Image of the Cross in C.S. Lewis’ Spiritual Theology.” Nolloquium (Digital Conference), Jun 5, 2020.
  • 2020: Upland, IN: “As High as My Spirit, As Small as My Stature”: C.S. Lewis’ Theology of the Small and Monika Hilder’s Theological Feminism,” 12th Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends, Jun 2-5, 2020 (cancelled due to COVID-19).
  • 2020: Upland, IN: “The Archangel Fragment and The Screwtape Letters: An Archival Discovery,” Co-presented with Charlie W. Starr. C.S. Lewis & Friends Digital Tea, May 22, 2020.
  • 2020: Charlottetown, PE, “Clarity, Care, Connection, and Credibility: Lessons from 15 Years of Online Teaching,” UPEI Teaching Community Conference, May 5, 2020.
  • 2020: Charlottetown, PE, Presenter: “Making Friends with the Darkness: L.M. Montgomery’s Popular Theodicy in Anne’s House of Dreams.” The L.M. Montgomery Institute’s 14th Biennial Conference, UPEI, Jun 2020.
  • 2019: Halifax, NS: “Unveiling Bird Box: Thinking about Genres of Apocalypse and Contemporary Culture,” International Conference on Religion & Film, St. Mary’s University, Jun 13, 2019.
  • 2018: Charlottetown, PE: “In Her Own Tongue: L.M. Montgomery’s Spirituality of Imaginative Literature,” The L.M. Montgomery Institute’s 13th Biennial Conference.
  • 2018: Upland, IN: “The Quest for Bleheris,” 11th Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends.
  • 2018: Upland, IN: “C.S. Lewis’s Theory of Sehnsucht as a Tool for Theorizing L.M. Montgomery’s Experience of ‘The Flash,’” 11th Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends.
  • 2016: Glasgow, UK: “Criticism as Conversion: Active Surrender in C.S. Lewis’ Spiritual Theology,” International Society for Religion, Literature, and Culture 18.
  • 2016: Upland, IN: “Testing the Possibilities of the Screwtape-Ransom Speculative Universe,” 10th Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends.
  • 2014: Leuven, Belgium: “From Epistles to Epistolary Fiction: Expanding Norman R. Petersen’s New Testament Sociology of Narrative Worlds,” International Society for Religion, Literature, and Culture 17.
  • 2014: Norton, MA: “A Cosmic Shift in The Screwtape Letters,” Mythcon 45.
  • 2014: Norton, MA: “The Inklings and King Arthur,” Co-panelist, Mythcon 45.
  • 2013: Halifax, NS, Presenter: “‘Die Before You Die’: St. Paul’s Cruciformity in C.S. Lewis” at the Atlantic School of Theology C.S. Lewis Symposium.
  • 2012: Charlottetown, PEI: “A Cosmic Find in a C.S. Lewis Archive,” UPEI Arts Colloquium Series. Re-presented at the UPEI Seniors College “Sharing Our Research” series in 2012 and 2013.
  • 2012: Upland, IN: “The Pedagogical Value of The Screwtape Letters for a New Generation” at the2012 Joint Meeting of the 8th Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends and the C.S. Lewis & the Inklings Society, Taylor University, 2012.
  • 2012: Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, Co-presenter: “La Negrita, La Comadre, and La Santita: The Enigmatic Identity of Santa Muerte” at Canadian Congress of the Humanities, 2012.
  • 2010: Charlottetown, PE, Presenter: “Was St. Paul Anti-Semitic? A Look at a Key Text” at the Invisible Scholars Lecture Series, 2010.

Lecture Series and Academic Non-credit Courses

  • 2024: Guest Lecture Series: “Reading L.M. Montgomery as Fantasy: Part 1: Anne of Green Gables.” Signum University’s SPACE Program, 8 lectures and discussions, Nov 2024.
  • 2024: Guest Lecture Series: “Ink Spots and Tea Stains: What We Learn from C.S. Lewis’s Writing Habits.” Signum University’s SPACE Program, 8 lectures and discussions, Oct 2024.
  • 2023: Guest Lecture Series: “Reading L.M. Montgomery as Fantasy: Part 1: Anne of Green Gables.” Signum University’s SPACE Program, 8 lectures and discussions, Oct 2023.
  • 2022: Guest Lecture Series: “Spirituality in the Writing of L.M. Montgomery.” Atlantic School of Theology Continuing Education Course, 12 lectures, May 2022.
  • 2021: Guest Lecture Series: “L.M. Montgomery’s Novels as an Invitation to Spiritual Life.” The Seniors College of Prince Edward Island, Beaconsfield Carriage House, 2 lectures and discussions, Oct 26, 2021.

Guest Lectures for Undergraduate and Graduate Courses (since 2018)

  • 2026: Charlottetown, PE: “Artifacts of Campus Socioecology: A Critical Breaking Workshop,” with Ryan Drew, for Renee Valiquette’s DSJS-2090: Experiments for a Hot Planet, UPEI, May 14, 2026.
  • 2026: Charlottetown, PE: “The Art of the Elevator Pitch,” for Ryan Drew’s UPEI 1020-1: Inquiry Studies, UPEI, Feb 3, 2026.
  • 2026: Charlottetown, PE: “Are We Cyborgs Yet?” for Ryan Drew’s ACLC 1080: Digital Literacy, UPEI, Feb 3, 2026.
  • 2026: Charlottetown, PE: “Once Upon a Time: The Beginning, Middle, and End of Paper Writing,” for Ryan Drew’s UPEI 1020-1: Inquiry Studies, UPEI, Feb 3, 2026.
  • 2026: Charlottetown, PE: “Finding Your Motivation,” for Ryan Drew’s UPEI 1020-1: Inquiry Studies, UPEI, Oct 21, 2026.
  • 2024: Wolfville, NS: “Chaucer in the work of Tolkien and Lewis,” for Kevin Whetter’s ENGL 2173 X1: Mediaeval Literature 2: Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Acadia University, Nov 18, 2024.
  • 2024: Charlottetown, PE: “Once Upon a Time: The Beginning, Middle, and End of Paper Writing,” for Ryan Drew’s UPEI 1020-1: Inquiry Studies, UPEI, Nov 12, 2024.
  • 2024: Charlottetown, PE: “Finding Your Motivation,” for Ryan Drew’s UPEI 1020-1: Inquiry Studies, UPEI, Oct 29, 2024.
  • 2024: Charlottetown, PE: “Emily’s Experience of ‘The Flash,’” for Kate Scarth’s ENG 3330: L.M. Montgomery, UPEI, Jun 13, 2024.
  • 2024: Charlottetown, PE: “Once Upon a Time: The Beginning, Middle, and End of Paper Writing” for two sections of Ryan Drew’s UPEI 1020: Inquiry Studies, UPEI, Jan 30, 2024.
  • 2023: Charlottetown, PE: “Passion and Perseverance When the Odds are Stacked Against You,” for Ryan Drew’s UPEI 1020: Inquiry Studies, UPEI, Oct 23, 2023.
  • 2023: Charlottetown, PE: “A Gender Studies Approach to Heroics and Leadership in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” for Kate Scarth’s Digital Humanities course ACLC 1060: Putting Arts to Work, UPEI, Oct 17, 2023.
  • 2023: Charlottetown, PE: “Symbolic Storytelling and the Theology of Mythic Meaning in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter,” for Rob Dennis’ Religious Studies “Beauty and Belief” class at the University of Prince Edward Island, Mar 14, 2023.
  • 2023: Charlottetown, PE: “Passion and Perseverance When the Odds are Stacked Against You,” for Ryan Drew’s UPEI 1020: Inquiry Studies, UPEI, Mar 13, 2023.
  • 2021: Guest Lecturer: “Earthsea Revisioned: A Conversation about Feminism, Sex, and Gender in Ursula K. Le Guin Fantasy Writing,” with Prof. Kris Swank, “Ursula K. Le Guin: Worldbuilder” course in Signum University’s MA in Literature and Linguistics, Nov 4, 2021.
  • 2020: Charlottetown, PE: “A Feminist Critique of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” for Kate Scarth’s Digital Humanities course ACLC 1060: Putting Arts to Work, UPEI, Nov 3, 2020.
  • 2020: Charlottetown, PE: “The Pronominal Cluster ‘One’ in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” for Kate Scarth’s Digital Humanities course ACLC 1060: Putting Arts to Work, UPEI, Oct 20, 2020.
  • 2018: Charlottetown, PE, Guest Lecture: “Manuscript Discoveries in the Wardrobe: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Archival Research,” University of Prince Edward Island, “Children’s Literature” class, Feb 6, 2018.

Keynotes, Invited Lectures, Scholarly Talks

  • 2025: Cuddalore, India, Keynote Lecture: “A Walk within the Walls of the World: The Deeper Magic of Meaning in Fantasy,” for New Directions in Narratology Conference at St. Joseph’s College of Arts & Science, Dec 12, 2025.
  • 2025: “Passports to the Geography of Fairyland: Can C.S. Lewis and L.M. Montgomery be Kindred Spirits?” Dr. Brenton Dickieson YouTube channel, Nov 17, 2025, https://youtu.be/tx46-4Xl0dw?si=imkpHp4fiNzdLxgx.
  • 2023-25: Distinguished Lecturer in Inklings Studies, Center for Theology, Spirituality, and Ministry, Northwind Seminary.
  • 2025: Charlottetown, PE, Guest Speaker: “Training Your Second Brain: What AI Can and Cannot Do for You.” UPEI public talk, Sep 9, 2025.
  • 2025: Charlottetown, PE, Workshop: “Images and the Imagination: Narnia and How Stories Come to Be,” Immanuel Christian Kindergarten, Grade 4 Classroom, Mar 24, 2025.
  • 2025: Charlottetown, PE, Public Lecture: “‘Because My Old Heart Would Burst’: A Settler’s Reflections on Indigenous Spaces in Octavia Butler and C.S. Lewis,” for Theology on Tap, Mar 4, 2025.
  • 2025: Online Public Talk: “The Shape of C.S. Lewis’s Spiritual Imagination,” at the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace Event, “C.S. Lewis: The Spiritual, Social, and Ethical Vision in his Life and Work,” with Simon Barrow, Ron Wheeler, Jim Beitler, Elizabeth Drummond Young, and Andrew Lazo, Feb 12, 2025.
  • 2025: New Glasgow, PE, Public Lecture: “Lucy Maud Montgomery: Pulling Back the Veil,” for the Women’s Institute as part of a 100th Anniversary Lecture Series, Feb 3, 2025.
  • 2024: Wolfville, NS, Public Lecture: “Friends, Lovers, and Revivalist Shudders: L.M. Montgomery and Baptists,” for Acadia Celebrates #MAUD150, Acadia University, Nov 18, 2024.
  • 2024: Cavendish, PE, Guest Talk: “The L.M. Montgomery Canada Forgot,” for the 150th Anniversary of L.M. Montgomery’s Birth Service at Cavendish United Church, Aug 25, 2024.
  • 2024: Digital Invited Lecture: “Is C.S. Lewis’s Cruciformity Romantic Theology?” at the Center for Theology, Spirituality, and Ministry, Northwind Seminary, May 23, 2024.
  • 2020-22: Distinguished Lecturer in Romantic Theology in the Doctor in Theology and Ministry at Northwind Seminary. Lectures include “The Spiritual Theology of C.S. Lewis” and “Like the Falling of Small Stones: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Theology of the Small.” Interviewed in student discussion Dec 6, 2022.
  • 2022: Digital Guest Speaker: “The Downfall of Númenor,” Tolkienmoot XVIII, 30 Jul 2022. 
  • 2022: New York City, NY, Keynote Lecture: “Tik Tok and the Sound of the Clock: Waking to Life in The Screwtape Letters,” Faculty Lecturer for Interregnum at The King’s College, Mar 8, 2022.
  • 2021: Iași, Romania, Speaker: “Passports to the Geography of Fairyland: Can C.S. Lewis and L.M. Montgomery be Kindred Spirits?” The 2021 C.S. Lewis & Kindred Spirits Society Conference, Nov 18-20, 2021, Iași, Romania.
  • 2021: Digital Speaker: “The Megan Follows Audiobook Version of Emily of New Moon” in the Emily of New Moon Round Table with E. Holly Pike, and Kate Sutherland, Conversations about L.M. Montgomery Series, Sep 25, 2021.
  • 2021: Leesburg, VA, Keynote Lecture, Guest of Honour: “The Long Defeat? C.S. Lewis’ Apocalypse of the Imagination” at Mythmoot VIII: The World Ahead, Jun 25-28, 2021, unlisted link: https://youtu.be/zpzTM6zsTaM.
  • 2021: Digital Guest Lecture: “History of the English Language” for German majors/English minors at Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, Jun 2, 2021.
  • 2021: Iași, Romania, Guest Speaker: “Inklings of Imagination” with Rev. Dr. Malcolm Guite, hosted by Dr. Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson at the C.S. Lewis and Kindred Spirits Society, Apr 23, 2021.
  • 2021: Indianapolis, IN, Guest Speaker: “C.S. Lewis and L.M. Montgomery,” the C.S. Lewis Society of Central Indiana, Feb 19, 2021.
  • 2020: Signum University Open Classroom, Public Lecture and Discussion, “The Anatomy of the Vampire Myth,” Oct 13, 2020.
  • 2020: Vancouver, BC, Guest Lecture: “Engaging Graduate Students Online,” Digital Lecture and Training Session for Professors, Regent College, Apr 21-22, 2020.
  • 2020: Charlottetown, PE, Guest Lecture: “Online Education During COVID-19,” Digital Lecture and Training Session for Teachers and Administrators, Immanuel Christian School, Mar 27, 2020.
  • 2019: Signum University Open Classroom, Public Lecture: “Narnia and Friendship,” with Diana Pavlac Glyer and Jason Lepojärvi, Nov 12, 2019.
  • 2018: Oxford, UK, Guest Lecture: “Dive: The Shape of the Cross in C.S. Lewis’ Writing,” the Oxford C.S. Lewis Society, Oct 23, 2018.
  • 2016: Summerside, PE, Public Talk: “Spirituality of the Small: Unlikely Heroes in the Stories We Love,” Chautauqua Festival, Arts in Motion Summerside, July 2016, Summerside, PE.
  • 2016: Charlottetown, PE, Public Talk: “Concerning Hobbits, and How They Save the World,” The St Dunstan’s University Institute for Christianity and Culture “Theology on Tap,” Jan 28, 2016.
  • 2014: Charlottetown, PE, Guest Lecture: “How to Build A Fictional World,” PEI Seniors College.
  • 2014: Charlottetown, PE, Presentation: “A Cosmic Find in a C.S. Lewis Archive,” UPEI Arts Colloquium Series. Re-presented at the UPEI Seniors College “Sharing Our Research” series in 2012 and 2013.
  • 2011: Charlottetown, PE, Guest Speaker, “Surprising Global Religious Trends,” Canada World Youth Indonesia Exchange, UPEI, October 2010.

A frequent conference speaker, workshop leader, and panelist in Canada, the US, and Japan, including being keynote speaker at LApalooza 2000, Japanese Church Leaders Conference 2002, Exalt 2006, Pursuit 2016, United Church of Canada Maritime Conference 2018, as well as convocation speaker for the 2015 graduation at Maritime Christian College.

Academic Leadership in Panel Presentations, Moderation, and Workshops

  • 2026: Facilitated Roundtable Discussion: “Disruptive Literacy and Generative Inquiry in an Algorithmic Age,” with Ryan Drew at the UPEI Teaching Community Conference, Apr 28, 2026.
  • 2025: Academic Conference Panellist: “Cinderella Anne, Paranormal Emily, and Astral Heroines Everywhere: L.M. Montgomery and the Fantastic,” with Heidi Lawrence, Abigail Heiniger, and Trinna Frever (Moderator). The Virtual Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts (VICFA), Sep 17, 2025.
  • 2025: Charlottetown, PE, Lightning Talk: “You Are Looking at Accommodations All Wrong: Learning about Learning and Teaching Learning.” UPEI Teaching Community Conference, UPEI, Mon, Apr 28, 2025.
  • 2024: Wolfville, NS, Workshop Leader: “Podcasting: ANNEthology,” for ENGL 4313/5973: Adapting L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, Acadia University, Nov 6 and Nov 18, 2024.
  • 2024: Charlottetown, PE, Workshop Leader: “Authenticity and AI in the Classroom,” with Ryan Drew and Stacey L. MacKinnon for the Lunch and Learn Series in the Teaching and Learning Centre at UPEI, Nov 6, 2024.
  • 2024: Charlottetown, PE, Panel Moderator: “The Personal is Political, and the Political is Personal.” The L.M. Montgomery Institute’s 16th Biennial Conference, UPEI, Jun 22, 2024.
  • 2024: Wheaton, IL, Panel Moderator: “Literary Inheritance.” George MacDonald Bicentenary Conference, Wheaton College, May 29, 2024.
  • 2024: Charlottetown, PE, Conversation Leader and Collaborator: Les Bourses Horizon Séjour de Formation on Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL), hosted by the Curiosity and Inquiry Research and Collaboration Lab (CIRCL), May 21-23, 2024.
  • 2024: Charlottetown, PE, Workshop Leader: “Leadership and Pedagogical Innovation for IBL: Teachers’ and Students’ Emotional Skills” at Les Bourses Horizon Séjour de Formation on Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL), hosted by the Curiosity and Inquiry Research and Collaboration Lab (CIRCL), May 22, 2024.
  • 2023: Leesburg, VA, Guest of Honour Panel Moderator: Mythmoot X: Homeward Bound, with Corey Olsen, Ted Nasmith, Sørina Higgins, and Gabriel Schenk, June 23, 2023.
  • 2023: Leesburg, VA, Workshop Leader: “Birds of a Feather Session: Works in Progress Workshop,” Mythmoot X: Homeward Bound, June 23, 2023.
  • 2023: Iași, Romania, Conversation Moderator: “Two Reluctant Prophets: C.S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers” with David Downing and Crystal Downing, hosted by Kirstin Jefferey Johnson, The C. S. Lewis and Kindred Spirits Society Connected Online Event, May 25, 2023.
  • 2023: Iași, Romania, Conversation Moderator: “Charles Williams and C.S. Lewis: Friends in Co-Inherence,” with Paul Fiddes, Otniel-Joan Bunaciu, and Sørina Higgins, hosted by Kirstin Jefferey Johnson, The C. S. Lewis and Kindred Spirits Society Connected Online Event, Mar 22, 2023.
  • 2022: Iași, Romania, Conversation Moderator: “Merely 70: The Text and Legacy of Mere Christianity,” with Michael Ward, hosted by Kirstin Jefferey Johnson, The C. S. Lewis and Kindred Spirits Society Connected Online Event, Nov 17, 2022.
  • 2022: Panelist: “Gardeners of the Galaxies: How Imaginary Worlds Teach us to Care for This One,” with Sørina Higgins, TexMoot 2022, Mar 26, 2022.
  • 2021: Reading Group Leader: “Greek Reading Group,” a new discussion group begun in September 2021 for reading Koine Greek, hosted by Maritime Christian College.
  • 2021: Workshop Leader, Canadian Mental Health Association: “Try It Tuesday!” Facebook Live Session on Journaling and Mental Health, Jul 13, 2021.
  • 2021: Texas, USA, Session Presentation: “Is C.S. Lewis too Sexy for America?,”  TexMoot 2021: Signum University’s Fourth Annual Texas Literature & Language Symposium, Feb 13, 2021.
  • 2021: Charlottetown, PE, Guest Panelist: “Guest Discussion on Podcasting Women Writers,” for the English 2210 course, “Writing by Women” at the University of Prince Edward Island, Jan 19, 2021.
  • 2020: Signum University Thesis Theater, Facilitator: “Negotiated Symbiosis: Power, Identity, and Community in the Works of Octavia E. Butler,” A Signum Thesis Theatre on Octavia Butler’s speculative fiction by Jens Hieber, Oct 2, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtSZ51qsieQ&t=11s
  • 2020: Signum University Open Classroom, Public Lecture and Discussion, “The Anatomy of the Vampire Myth,” Oct 13, 2020.
  • 2020: Signum University Thesis Theater, Facilitator: “The Lady and Our Lady: Galadriel as a ‘Reflexion’ of Mary,” A Signum Thesis Theatre on Tolkien & Catholicism by Mickey Corso,” by MA recipient Dr. Mickey Corso, with Dr. Sara Brown, Chair of Language and Literature, Signum University, Aug 3, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-oBgsbDwCY&t=2381s.
  • 2020: Signum University, Moderator: “MootHub (Digital MythMoot),” attendee and academic conference moderator, Aug 6-9, 2020.
  • 2020: Signum University, Panelist: “Hugo Award 2020: Best Novel Roundtable,” panelist for The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, Jul 31, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FKOzljqQls&t=2127s.
  • 2019: Signum University Symposium, Host: “What is Signum Culture?”, with Sørina Higgins, Sparrow Alden, Mark Lachniet, Chair of Literature and Languages Sara Brown, and President Corey Olsen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L4Kqnfjfr4.
  • 2019: Mythgard Movie Club, Panelist: “18: The Fifth Element,” Mythgard Academy, Nov 21, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUbcTkPpvFQ&t=3295s.
  • 2019: Signum University Open Classroom, Public Lecture: “Narnia and Friendship,” with Diana Pavlac Glyer and Jason Lepojärvi, Nov 12, 2019, https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2019/12/06/an-open-class-on-narnia-and-friendship-with-brenton-dickieson-jason-lepojarvi-and-diana-pavlac-glyer-full-video-from-signum-university/.
  • 2019: Signum University Open Classroom, Public Panel: “C.S. Lewis, Gender, and The Four Loves,” Sep 25, 2019, https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2019/10/02/csl-4loves-gender/.
  • 2019: Signum University Thesis Theater, Facilitator: “An Image of the Discarded: C. S. Lewis’s Use of the Medieval Model in His Planetary Fiction,” by MA recipient Adam Mattern, with Dr. David Downing, director of the Wade Center at Wheaton College, Mar 14, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7GLVTeg1Uc&t=1s.
  • 2018: Mythgard Movie Club, Panelist: “11: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” Mythgard Academy, Dec 14, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNF4Lc-FJQQ.
  • 2018: Upland, IN, Panel Moderator: “The Quest for Bleheris,” with David C. Downing,” 11th Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends.
  • 2018: Signum University Thesis Theater, Facilitator: “J. R. R. Tolkien’s Sub-creative Vision: Exploring the Capacity and Applicability in Tolkien’s Concept of Sub-creation,” by MA recipient Rob Gosselin, Feb 26, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzyzFba4ckg&t=2264s.
  • 2018: Signum University Symposium Roundtable, Panelist: “The Inklings and King Arthur,” with Corey Olsen, Sørina Higgins (moderator) and Malcolm Guite, Signum University, Feb 5, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyMPyTGqdMw&t=1516s.
  • 2017: Mythgard Movie Club, Panelist: “01: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Mythgard Academy, Dec 5, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqSIC61V4M4.
  • 2017: Signum University Symposium Roundtable, Panelist: “One Fantastic Rogue Beast,” with Kat Sas, Curtis Weyant, Kelly Orazi, and Emily Strand, Jan 6, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcRuQMt3oPQ.
  • 2017: Signum University Symposium Roundtable, Panelist: “On Being a Public Intellectual,” with David Russell Mosley and Sørina Higgins, Signum University, Jan 24, 2017.
  • 2011: Charlottetown, PE, Panelist: “Muslim-Christian Interfaith Panel,” UPEI Diversity Week, January 2011.
  • 2011: Charlottetown, PE, Panelist and Guest Speaker: Park Royal United Church Inter-Faith Discussions: Fostering Respect, Peace, and Understanding between Faith Traditions,” March 2010.

Other Academic Publications, Invited Chapters, Conference Proceedings, and Review Essays

  • 2024: “The L.M. Montgomery Canada Forgot,” The Shining Scroll, a periodical of The L.M. Montgomery Literary Society, 2024.
  • 2019: “An Awkward Look at Prayer, and C.S. Lewis’s Letters to Malcolm,” Touchstone 37, no. 2 (June 2019): 22-28.
  • 2019: “The Tolkien Film and the Problem of Beauty,” Forefront Festival, May 16, 2019, https://www.forefrontfestival.com/the-tolkien-film-and-the-problem-of-beauty/.
  • 2019: “C.S. Lewis’s Theory of Sehnsucht as a Tool for Theorizing L.M. Montgomery’s Experience of ‘The Flash,’” The Faithful Imagination: Papers from the 2018 Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends, Taylor University (ed. Joe Ricke and Ashley Chu; Winged Lion Press, 2019), pp. 144-165. Conference Proceedings.
  • 2019: “Why the Lewis & Friends Colloquium is Awesome (It’s the Students),” The Faithful Imagination: Papers from the 2018 Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends, Taylor University (ed. Joe Ricke and Ashley Chu; Winged Lion Press, 2019), pp. 396-397. Anthologized article.
  • 2018: “A Critical Moment in Lewis Gender Studies,” a review essay of Monika Hilder’s trilogy, The Feminine Ethos in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia (2012), The Gender Dance: Ironic Subversion in C.S. Lewis’s Cosmic Trilogy (2013), and Surprised by the Feminine: A Rereading of C.S. Lewis and Gender (2013), VII: Journal of the Marion E. Wade Center 35 (2018): 111-119.
  • 2018: “Echoes of the Eternal in C.S. Lewis’ Fiction,” a review essay of Marsha Daigle-Williamson, Reflecting the Eternal: Dante’s Divine Comedy in the Novels of C.S. Lewis (2015), VII: Journal of the Marion E. Wade Center 35 (2018): e123-e131.
  • 2018: “(Re)Considering the Planet Narnia Thesis,” An Unexpected Journal 1, no. 4 (Advent 2018): 59-76. Invited article.
  • 2018: “Full: The Last Day of the L.M. Montgomery Institute Conference,” LMMontgomery.ca.
  • 2016: “The Son of Lancelot,” Taliessin through Logres Series #17, The Oddest Inkling 7, Jun 2016, https://theoddestinkling.wordpress.com/2016/06/07/ttl-17-the-son-of-lancelot-by-brenton-d-g-dickieson/.
  • 2015: “‘Die Before You Die’: St. Paul’s Cruciformity in C.S. Lewis” in Both Sides of the Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis, Theological Imagination and Everyday Discipleship (ed. Rob Fennell, Resource Publications, 2015), pp. 32-45.
  • 2014: “Canada’s Ferguson a long quiet death; guest opinion; Aboriginal women four times as likely to be murder victims,” The Guardian (Dec 10, 2014).
  • 2013: “Stranger” and “Wise as a Serpent” in Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture (eds. M. Gilmour and M. A. Beavis; Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2013), 521, 601-602.
  • 2012: “The Pedagogical Value of The Screwtape Letters for a New Generation,” Inklings Forever VIII (2012): 12-29. Conference proceedings.
  • 2011: “Sabbath unplugged,” Geez 22 (Summer 2011).
  • 2005: Antisemitism and the Judaistic Paul: A Study of 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 in Light of Paul’s Social and Rhetorical Contexts and the Contemporary Question of Antisemitism (Portland, OR: Theological Research Exchange Network, 2005). Master’s thesis.

Author of more than twenty popular articles and three short stories, columnist for Island Family Magazine (2009-2012), writer of more than sixty album reviews and nine articles for the Living Light News (2000-2005), and more than 1,300 blog posts on A Pilgrim In Narnia and other popular and academic blogs.

The MaudCast: The Podcast of the L.M. Montgomery Institute

Founded in 2020, I am the Founding Producer and Host of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-funded program, The MaudCast: The Podcast of the L.M. Montgomery Institute, currently in season 3. Here is episode list:

Season One:

  • S01E00: The Maudcast Teaser
  • S01E01: Lesley Clement, Launch of the Vision Forum
  • S01E02: Laura Leden, L.M. Montgomery and Nordic Translation
  • S01E03: Kate Scarth and the L.M. Montgomery Institute
  • S01E04: Trinna Frever (two-part episode)
  • S01E05: Andrea McKenzie
  • S01E06: Carolyn Strom Collins
  • S01E07: A Very Merry MaudCast with Kristy McKinney, Kate Scarth, Alyssa Gillespie, and host Brenton Dickieson
  • S01E08 Rachel Dodge and The Anne of Green Gables Devotional
  • S01E09 Jenny Litster and L.M. Montgomery’s Cultural Contexts
  • S01E10 Rita Bode, Women Writers, and Editing L.M. Montgomery Scholarship
  • S01E11 Mary Beth Cavert and L.M. Montgomery’s Life and Letters
  • S01E12 Bonnie Tulloch and Emerging L.M. Montgomery Scholarship: The Flipped Microphone Edition

Season Two:

  • S02E00 Season Two Teaser
  • S02E01 Allison Hudson and How We Touch the Books We Read
  • S02E02 Laura Robinson and E. Holly Pike on L.M. Montgomery and Gender
  • S02E03 Melanie Fishbane and Images of Montgomery as an Author
  • S02E04 Julie Sellers and the Poetic Imagination of Kindred Spirits
  • S02E05 Alan MacEachern, L.M. Montgomery Institute Visiting Scholar

Season Three (as scheduled):

  • S03E01 The MaudCast x KSBC: LMM Podcasters Unite!
  • S03E02 Hayley Solano and The Enchanted Book Club
  • S03E03 Carolyn Strom Collins and The Blue Castle Manuscript
  • S03E04 Conversations about the ANNEthology
  • S03E05 Alan MacEachern and Becoming Green Gables
  • S03E06 Heidi Lawrence: Montgomery, L’Engle, and Fantasy
  • S03E07 Pascale Halliday and Bonnie Tulloch Emily Carr and LMM
  • S03E08 Blair Macdonald: An Heir in the Chair 

Expert Interviews and Special Media Appearances

Academic Book Reviews

  • The Nature of Middle-earth by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Carl Hostetter, Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal 17 (2023): 180-185.
  • The Unknown Garden of Another’s Heart: The Surprising Friendship between C.S. Lewis and Arthur Greeves by Joseph Kohm Jr., Journal of Inklings Studies 12, no. 2 (2022): 284-288.
  • After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man by Michael Ward, Sehnsucht 15 (2021): 195-198. 
  • The Christian Mind of C.S. Lewis: Essays in Honor of Michael Travers by Andrew J. Spencer, ed., Journal of Inklings Studies 11, no. 1 (2021): 124-127.
  • C.S. Lewis and the Christian Worldview by Michael L. Peterson, Literature and Theology (2020) fraa015.
  • The Fame of C.S. Lewis: A Controversialist’s Reception in Britain and America by Stephanie L. Derrick, Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal 13 (2019): 116-119.
  • The Poetic Edda, a new translation by Jeramy Dodds in Scrivener Creative Review 40 (April 2015): 44-49.
  • God and Charles Dickens: Rediscovering the Christian Voice of a Classic Author by Gary Colledge in Haddington House Journal 15 (2013): 129-130.
  • Doors in the Air: C. S. Lewis and the Imaginative World by Anna Slack, ed., in Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal 7-8 (2013-2014): 208-210.
  • Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint by R. Andrew Chesnut in Studies in Religion 42, no. 2 (June 2013): 264-265.
  • The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story by Craig G. Bartholomew & Michael W. Goheen in Stone-Campbell Journal 9, no. 1 (Spring 2006): 147-149.
  • A Brief Introduction to the New Testament by Bart Ehrman in Stone-Campbell Journal 8, no. 1 (Spring 2005): 137-139.
  • Paul and the Jews by A. Andrew Das in Ashland Theological Journal 37 (2005): 122-123.
  • Paul among the Postliberals: Pauline Theology beyond Christendom and Modernity by Douglas Harink in Ashland Theological Journal 37 (2005): 123-124.
  • Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters by Michael J. Gorman in Ashland Theological Journal 37 (2005): 141-143.
  • Paul of Tarsus by T.R. Glover in Ashland Theological Journal 36 (2004): 149-150.
  • Paul: The Founder of Christianity by Gerd Lüdemann in Ashland Theological Journal 36 (2004): 152-153.
  • Narrative Dynamics in Paul, ed. by Bruce Longenecker in Ashland Theological Journal 35 (2003): 141-143.

Academic Honours and Grants

  • 2025: The MacLauchlan Prize for Effective Writing, for faculty and staff who have shown exceptional leadership in the development of writing among students ($500 award).
  • 2024: The Hessian Award for Excellence in Teaching (Sessional; $1,200 award).
  • 2020: The L.M. Montgomery Institute’s 2020 Elizabeth R. Epperly Early Career Paper Award for my paper, “Making Friends with the Darkness: L.M. Montgomery’s Popular Theodicy in Anne’s House of Dreams” (award includes expedited peer review of the paper for possible peer-review publication in the Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies, and complimentary full registration at the 2022 biennial conference).
  • 2018: The Inklings and King Arthur won the 2018 Mythopoeic Award for Inklings Scholarship, to which I was a contributor.
  • 2018: UPEI Sessional Instructor Grant, $1000, funding toward the transcription and publication of C.S. Lewis’ incomplete novel, The Quest of Bleheris.
  • 2017: The Hessian Award for Excellence in Teaching (Sessional; $750 award).
  • 2014: UPEI Sessional Instructor Grant, $1000, travel to archive at the Bodleian, Oxford.
  • 2012: 2nd place paper prize in the Scholar/Faculty Writing Category at the Annual Meeting of the C.S. Lewis & the Inklings Society for “The Pedagogical Value of The Screwtape Letters for a New Generation.”
  • 2012: UPEI Sessional Instructor Grant, $1000, travel to archive at the Wade, Wheaton, IL.
  • 2011: Nominated for the Hessian Teaching Award at UPEI.
  • 2005: Winner of the Pacific Northwest Society of Biblical Literature prize for Graduate Student Paper for “Hoi Ioudaioi and Paul’s Polemic in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.”
  • 2005: Winner of the New Testament Award, Regent College.

90 Responses to About the Pilgrim in Narnia, Dr. Brenton Dickieson

  1. Callum Beck's avatar Callum Beck says:
    October 3, 2011 at 1:08 am

    Earl Palmer did a lecture series on the loves that I listened to about 30 years ago. I actually think it was better than Lewis’s book. But his book on love was not as strong.

    Callum

    Reply
    • brentondickieson's avatar brentondickieson says:
      October 3, 2011 at 9:22 am

      I interviewed Earl a few years ago It was a farcical interview, a spoof, but he didn’t miss a beat Very bright guy

      Reply
    • nigelvalentine's avatar nigelvalentine says:
      August 28, 2019 at 7:41 pm

      I know that series! I had it on audiocassette up until a few years ago, when it broke in my car’s player. I thought it an excellent exposition of Lewis’ theology and humanity. I attended University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, where Earl was pastor for many years, and enjoyed his incorporation of all the Inklings in his sermons.

      Reply
  2. Christian Louboutin Men Loaters's avatar Christian Louboutin Men Loaters says:
    July 11, 2012 at 6:26 am

    Perfectly composed articles , thankyou for entropy.

    Reply
  3. Chris Armstrong's avatar Chris Armstrong says:
    December 4, 2012 at 2:50 pm

    Hey thanks for liking my lewis and boethius post over at gratefultothedead.wordpress.com. Ive written a bunch there on lewis over the years. By the way, i’m a fellow Maritimer. Grew up in Nova Scotia.

    Reply
    • brentondickieson's avatar brentondickieson says:
      December 4, 2012 at 2:58 pm

      Hey, nice to meet you. What part of NS? My fam’s in Antigonish, though I’m in PEI.
      I have seen things on your blog, and saw a post on Boethius before. I don’t know him well, and am backfilling my medieval gaps. Thanks for the paper.

      Reply
  4. Jeremy Johnson's avatar Jeremy Johnson says:
    February 22, 2013 at 3:26 am

    Hey there Brenton, or Pilgrim (whichever you prefer)! Just found your blog during a C.S. Lewis search. Love the concept for your project, being an avid fan of the Inklings myself. I look forward to perusing the archives! – Jer

    Reply

  5. Pingback: From the Screwtape Letters: Hell is Admin | Jeremy Johnson

  6. mamacardinal's avatar mamacardinal says:
    March 6, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    What a fascinating concept! Very inspiring to this new blogger. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  7. Sandy's Hopeful Room's avatar Sandy's Hopeful Room says:
    July 14, 2013 at 9:47 pm

    Thank you for the follow! Your site looks so appealing, I can’t wait to read it.
    SandyO

    Reply
  8. Professor VJ Duke's avatar Professor VJ Duke says:
    July 17, 2013 at 10:44 pm

    Narnia is one of this professor’s favorites. I like Horse and his Boy best. How about you?

    Reply
  9. andriaparker's avatar andriaparker says:
    July 21, 2013 at 5:05 am

    Beautiful blog concept; full intentions of devouring the entire thing! xx

    Reply
  10. Stephen Raw's avatar Stephen Raw says:
    September 3, 2013 at 11:05 pm

    So much interesting material Brenton. I loved reading Narnia tales to my three. Glad to read that your kids have ‘Lord of the Rings’ maps on their wall. Forgive me that this sounds like a hard sell but you never know – one day you may persuade friends to give you a set of a limited edition I drew for the book under the tutelage of Christopher Tolkien. The British Library have recently bought a set. Thanks for the writing and bothering to post it as well. All good wishes, Stephen (StephenRaw.com)

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson's avatar Brenton Dickieson says:
      September 4, 2013 at 11:23 am

      That’s brilliant, Stephen. From the photos, they look lovely. And, yes, it would have to be a very good friend!
      The phrase, “Making Language Visible”–your brief mission statement–is really intriguing to me.

      Reply
  11. David Russell Mosley's avatar David Russell Mosley says:
    May 29, 2014 at 8:22 am

    Brenton,

    I’ve invited you to participate in a blog hop focused on letting writers show off their process. I’d love to hear your answers the four questions you’ll find here: http://elflandletters.wordpress.com/2014/05/29/my-writing-processes-a-blog-hop/

    Yours,
    David

    Reply

  12. Pingback: Writing Processes: A Blog Hop! | orthodoxmom3

  13. Pingback: Celebrating One Year of Blogging! | A Tolkienist's Perspective

  14. Pingback: Very Inspiring Blogger Award | A Tolkienist's Perspective

  15. Pingback: To Be Inspiring | Soliloquies

  16. Michelle Joelle's avatar Michelle Joelle says:
    February 11, 2015 at 8:54 am

    I just wanted to let you know I’ve listed you among my nominees for The Dragon’s Loyalty Award for excellence. I’m not sure what dragons have to do with anything, but I love dragons, so I figured I’d pass it along. This is all, of course, just for fun, but I thought you might enjoy a dragon, and I know I enjoy any opportunity I get to send people to your excellent blog.

    You can check out the nomination here: http://storiesandsoliloquies.com/2015/02/11/the-dragons-loyalty-award/

    Reply
  17. stephencwinter's avatar stephencwinter says:
    February 17, 2015 at 8:44 am

    Hi Brenton, Michelle was also kind enough to nominate my blog and if you don’t mind more than one expression of appreciation I would also like to nominate yours as she did. It’s an edifying pleasure to be part of the ongoing conversation of your blog. Just in case you want to read my Dragon posting you can find it at http://stephencwinter.com/category/dragons-loyalty-award-for-excellence

    Reply
  18. Thom Hickey's avatar Thom Hickey says:
    April 7, 2015 at 3:34 am

    Thanks. Pleased to have found your expert blog. Lots for me to knot my brow over! Regards from Thom at the immortal jukebox (plugged in and ready to play).

    Reply

  20. Pingback: Yatta! Chronological Reading of C.S. Lewis Complete | A Pilgrim in Narnia | Khanya

  21. icelandpenny's avatar icelandpenny says:
    April 11, 2016 at 10:41 pm

    Thanks for following my blog. I’m very impressed by the breadth & depth of your exploration of C.S. Lewis’ works & universe, and larger impact.

    Reply
  22. icelandpenny's avatar icelandpenny says:
    April 11, 2016 at 10:42 pm

    Thank you for following my blog, Brenton. I’m very impressed by the breadth & depth of your exploration o C.S.Lewis’ works & universe.

    Reply
  23. icelandpenny's avatar icelandpenny says:
    April 11, 2016 at 10:44 pm

    !!! Now let me explain that a log-in glitch caused my first attempt to post a comment not to appear until AFTERr I’d managed to post its replacement. Then up it popped. Oops!

    Reply

  24. Pingback: Sign up for awesome summer courses! | The Oddest Inkling

  25. Pingback: Sign up for awesome summer courses! | Ekphrasis: Allentown's Fellowship of Christians in the Arts

  26. Karen Wells's avatar Karen Wells says:
    September 20, 2016 at 8:49 pm

    Thank you for the great read! Not even sure how I came upon it – just dropped onto my monitor screen. I have printed it out. I would like to pass it on to others who would appreciated it as I did. Do I have permission?

    Reply
  27. Kel Richards's avatar Kel Richards says:
    November 15, 2016 at 4:09 pm

    Hi Brenton,

    I am writing a series of novels featuring the Inklings–the latest “The Sinister Student” just published by Marylebone House (in London)–can I have my publisher send you a review copy?

    Kel Richards

    Reply
  28. Tolkien056's avatar Tolkien056 says:
    May 13, 2017 at 10:41 am

    If you could write this good on your blog, I bet you can write a book that good too.

    Also I’m sorry if you’re getting annoyed by my many comments today. I’m new to commenting on other people’s blogs.

    I just wanted to tell you that your blog is one of my top 2 favorite blogs to follow. Your blog is so good, I don’t know if your blog is the best, or if A tolkienist’s perspective is.

    I think it would be an honor if you follow one of my blogs (I actually have about 8 blogs!). I already asked James from A tolkienist’s perspective, but I’m also hoping that you follow as well.
    Here is the blog I think you’d like:

    https://Tolkien056.wordpress.com
    And if you like Sherlock Holmes, here’s my latest blog:
    https://brainyfactsforall.wordpress.com

    Also, about that book; since you’re very knowledgeable about the Inklings, I think that would be a great choice.

    Reply
  29. Tolkien056's avatar Tolkien056 says:
    May 13, 2017 at 11:47 pm

    Thanks to your blog, I remembered how much I love C. S. Lewis and Narnia. So Hours ago, I had created a C. S. Lewis blog and Narnia. Any tips on blogging about C. S. Lewis? Let me know.

    Here is the blog, in case you want to follow it.
    https://fromtheedgeofapen.wordpress.com

    Reply
  30. megmoseman's avatar megmoseman says:
    June 27, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    Thank you very much for the like and the follow! I look forward to reading your blog–the bits I’ve seen look really excellent.

    Reply
  31. Alexander's avatar Alexander says:
    August 10, 2017 at 10:22 am

    Taking an upcoming class called Catholic Literary Revival in England next semester, and plan on using this blog as a guide along the way. Many Thanks!

    Reply

  32. Pingback: Back to the Beginning: How This Blog Started | The L. Palmer Chronicles

  33. Linda Smith's avatar Linda Smith says:
    February 6, 2018 at 2:05 am

    Thank you for your comments on grief from Lewis’ A Grief Observed. Useful in dramatic loss in life plus realistic thoughts regarding questions about faith in the midst of the loss.

    Reply

  34. Pingback: July ’18 Roundup & Ramblings | Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road

  35. Steve's avatar Steve says:
    September 18, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    Dear Brenton,
    What a lovely and eclectic blog you have here. Thank you for doing this. I have added it to my blog list and look forward to following it. I thought you might enjoy a peek at some pages from my self published graphic novel adaptation of Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. All the best. Steve Vossos, Kelowna, BC.
    https://boo-ink.com/home/about-booink/the-pilgrims-progress/

    Reply
  36. keebslac1234's avatar keebslac1234 says:
    January 27, 2019 at 12:38 pm

    I’ve stumbled into your blog, and I am very glad I did. C.S. Lewis has been a large part of my life ever since a class at my alma mater. I can’t shake him or the thought processes that study set off. I will be reading your thoughts. I’m late to the party, but I’ll be along the wall.

    Reply
  37. successbmine's avatar successbmine says:
    June 24, 2019 at 4:29 pm

    Just found you through a link posted on Christian Bloggers Collective on FaceBook to the resources page on The Cultivating Project. As soon as I saw “A Pilgrim in Narnia” I knew I had to check you out. I love all the Narnia stories and C.S. Lewis in general, including The Space Trilogy. And I’m not normally into science fiction. I also love and have read a lot of Tolkien Including The Book of Lost Tales. As soon as I post this comment I’m going to follow your blog so i can easily come back and read not only new posts but make an attempt to read at least some of the already-existing ones. Thank you. God bless.

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson's avatar Brenton Dickieson says:
      June 26, 2019 at 2:06 pm

      Thanks for this nice note! I didn’t know such a collective existed. I appreciate your comment and stopping by. Tolkien’s work is a lifetime of reading now, and I like Lewis’ scifi better each time I read it!

      Reply
  38. successbmine's avatar successbmine says:
    June 29, 2019 at 3:35 pm

    I reread a lot of my books, and will probably reread The Space Trilogy again. I have read The Lord of the Rings trilogy at least 3 times and The Hobbit more times than I can count. The same with Narnia.

    Reply
  39. Adam Morrison's avatar Adam Morrison says:
    January 6, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    Hello, my name is Adam Morrison, first off I enjoy and appreciate your site. I am what Lewis calls a ‘literary ‘ person ( Experiment in Criticism) and struggling writer. I am looking into beginning my own blog along similar lines. I have been reaching out and networking with other young writers who are at least a step or so ahead of me (varying degrees of published ) . I was wondering if you would be at all willing to offer some advice, look over some of my rough preliminary articles/posts . I feel strongly led in these areas and as you have common interests and more experience I would really appreciate anything.

    Thanks and blessings,
    Adam

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson's avatar Brenton Dickieson says:
      January 6, 2020 at 10:19 pm

      Hi Adam, why not send me an email (junkola@gmail.com). Let me know your literary vision and we can chat there.

      Reply
      • Adam Morrison's avatar Adam Morrison says:
        January 14, 2020 at 5:02 pm

        Hey, I sent an email, but the attachment was not the corrected one, I was going to send another, but hadn’t gotten a response from you, so I was not sure if the address was wrong or something.. perhaps you could email me at igeorgeadams@gmail.com then I could send you the right one…

        Reply
  40. Jana Aagaard's avatar Jana Aagaard says:
    June 14, 2020 at 1:04 am

    Hi — I was was on the Nolloquium zoom meeting, both days. Because an idea of mine for a Lewis project has some relation to your excellent presentation, I would like to get your thoughts about whether my project is worth pursuing. I have no idea whether you have time to spare to respond, but if you’re able, please shoot me a note at my email address and I will let you know by reply what I have in mind. Thanks.

    Reply
  41. bdsprinkle's avatar bdsprinkle says:
    August 27, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    Hi Brenton. Been following your blog for some time and I was wondering if you would consider writing a blog post about the biographies of C.S. Lewis (maybe you already have). I want to read about his life but not sure where to start. With Tolkien, it is easy…Start with Humphrey Carpenter’s as that is THE book about Tolkien’s life to which all other biographical pieces owe allegiance. Is their a comparable one for CSL? Which was the first biography on him? Any help you could give would be great. Would like to know where to start and then how to branch out from there.

    Reply
  42. Mary E. Feie's avatar Mary E. Feie says:
    February 3, 2021 at 4:10 pm

    Delightful discovery!

    Reply
  43. Nevin's avatar Nevin says:
    September 6, 2021 at 2:26 pm

    Hey, I love your work and didn’t know where to put this.

    There’s an album inspired by characters from the Narnia books called “Into the Lantern Waste” by Sarah Sparks. I don’t know if you have heard of it at all, but I would love to hear your thoughts about it.

    I’ll put the Spotify link here:
    https://open.spotify.com/album/2hIYPv45lWcF4RA0JfuD8s?si=qezpC5YiRnquqiGKOE9T8Q&dl_branch=1

    Reply
  44. John Gough's avatar John Gough says:
    November 3, 2021 at 1:43 am

    Greetings, Brenton, from Australia.
    I discovered this recent Tolkien study which, although tangential to your interest in C.S. Lewis, certainly belongs in the realm of Inklings studies.
    In case you have not heard of it, I am adding details below.

    Holly Ordway: “Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages” ”
    https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1943243727?ref=em_1p_1_ti&ref_=pe_25710100_610971900

    This recent study of the non-Medieval, “modern” books that Tolkien read sheds new light on Tolkien, his experience, and his world view.
    In my own 1981 copy of Tolkien Letters (edited by Humphrey Carpenter), the Index cites virtually none of the modern authors reported and discussed by Professor Holly Ordway.
    (The LOOK INSIDE option at the Amazon web-site provides the Index for Ordway’s book, as well as other sample pages to whet the appetite.)

    I would be interested in your thoughts on Holly Ordway’s research, and hope you find it interesting.
    With best wishes for your on-going projects!!
    John

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson's avatar Brenton Dickieson says:
      November 4, 2021 at 2:06 pm

      Hi John, thanks for the careful note!
      I do have Holly’s book on my TBR–perhaps a winter around-the-house book for me. I have all my this-semester reading full-up, but I have a beautiful copy waiting for me for the new year.

      Reply

  45. Pingback: “Gardeners of the Galaxies” Discussion with Sørina Higgins and Brenton Dickieson on Inkling Folk Fellowship (Fri, Apr 29, 2022, 4pm Eastern) | A Pilgrim in Narnia

  46. Donna Fentanes's avatar Donna Fentanes says:
    January 8, 2023 at 11:14 am

    Hello, I would be interested in taking your TWHF class. Is it offered online? I am in Northern California.

    Thank you,
    Donna Fentanes
    Shoelady10@yahoo.com

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson's avatar Brenton Dickieson says:
      January 16, 2023 at 12:33 pm

      Thanks for the note! My online classes are offered through The King’s College in New York City or Signum University. These are for-credit institutions, but Signum has some audit options. Let me now if that helps.

      Reply
  47. lolalwilcox's avatar lolalwilcox says:
    March 10, 2023 at 7:02 pm

    Brenton, I have not received any new posts since the one about your son’s music…. the site says “You are a registered blog….” Maybe you said you were taking a vacation, and I missed the message. I miss the posts. Please check and be sure I’m still on the mailout list: lolalwilcox@gmail.com

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson's avatar Brenton Dickieson says:
      March 11, 2023 at 10:51 am

      Hi Lola, thanks for the nice note. I am still here! And safe. I have been overworked for a lot of months, and I ran out of imaginative bandwidth. I have a lot of blog posts that I’ve started, but I lost that magic of being able to say something thoughtful in a relatively simple way. I have rested and am regrouping. Best wishes!

      Reply
      • lolalwilcox's avatar lolalwilcox says:
        March 11, 2023 at 12:54 pm

        Thank you for your response. Please take all the time you need to regroup, and reenergize. I’m in awe of your schedule. I’m also learning a lot from you about the way I want my own blog to function in the world and in my life. Like you, I’m at equinox – learning to balance time and writing to work together without costing me core energy.

        Reply
  48. Nolan's avatar Nolan says:
    September 5, 2023 at 2:00 am

    Hi! I just happened upon your site here.. which is incredible! I’ll definitely keep coming back here!

    I found this site because I just learned about the original preface to the Screwtape Letters mentioning Ransom, and I saw that you’d been the first to publish it. So far, I haven’t been able to find the full text of that preface; do you know any way I can find it? Thanks!

    Reply

  49. Pingback: The Office Hours Dialogues: What I Am Looking For in a Research Paper (Part 1) | A Pilgrim in Narnia

  50. Andrew's avatar Andrew says:
    February 14, 2024 at 8:37 pm

    Hey Brenton – I’m wondering if you are interested in posting to your readers a PDF copy of ‘undeceptions’ – the almost impossible to get collection of talks and letters (God in the Dock is a cut down version…). Since it is out of copyright, I purchased a copy at an obscene price and have scanned it to make available to anyone and everyone – would you be interested hosting a copy? I want no money, fame or recognition – we just spent years trying to find a copy – and now just want to share :D.

    Reply

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