Category Archives: Letters

The Last Letter of J.R.R. Tolkien, on the 45th Anniversary of His Death

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I have just finished reading The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1982), which is fitting given that this is the 45th anniversary of his death (2 Sep 1973). With help from Christopher Tolkien, noted writer, broadcaster, and biographer Humphrey Carpenter collected the letters … Continue reading →

Posted in L.M. Montgomery, Letters | Tagged Christopher Tolkien, Death, diary, Dorothy L. Sayers, Guy Gavriel Kay, Humphrey Carpenter, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, letters, The Fall of Gondolin, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Walter Hooper | 34 Comments

Idea-Seeds in C.S. Lewis’ Letters (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

This summer I introduced an occasional feature I call “Throwback Thursday.” This is where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own vault or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. This might be an … Continue reading →

Posted in Letters, Memorable Quotes, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, ideas, J.R.R. Tolkien, letters, literature, Out of the Silent Planet, Ransom Trilogy, The Problem of Pain, writing | 37 Comments

C.S. Lewis’ Teenage Bookshelf, and Other Lessons on Reading

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

The Beowulf author, Sir Thomas Malory, Jane Austen, William Morris, Charlotte Brontë, and Shakespeare. With the exception of Morris, who is merely an important author of his period, these are all canonical authors. Notably, though, these are all authors that Lewis … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Letters, On Writing, Original Research | Tagged A Preface to Paradise Lost, An Experiment in Criticism, books, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, literature, Malory, Reader Response Criticism, Reading, Shakespeare, Studies in Words, The Discarded Image, William Morris | 54 Comments

C.S. Lewis’ Normal and Not-So-Normal Life as a Student

Posted on September 27, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

As the cobblestone streets and hallowed halls of Oxford are beginning to fill for Michaelmas term, University students and faculty have been back to work here in North America. As I have a busy semester of teaching, I had a … Continue reading →

Posted in Letters, Lewis Biography | Tagged Anna Karenina, C.S. Lewis, Canterbury Tales, Cecil Harwood, diaries, Erewhon, History, owen barfield, Oxford, Poetry, Rudolph Steiner, University, writing | 13 Comments

Christmas With J.R.R. Tolkien: The Father Christmas Letters

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

What a find! At a yard sale a good friend scored a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Father Christmas Letters and she was good enough to give it to me. Published by his daughter-in-law in 1976 on the 3rd anniversary of Tolkien’s … Continue reading →