Category Archives: Original Research

“The Monster in Me: C.S. Lewis’ Inversion of the Monstrous Other in his Speculative Fiction” (My Abstract for Monster Fest 2025)

Posted on October 21, 2025 by

Hello, fair folk, far and near! I wanted to let you know about one of the handful of talks and papers that have occupied a good deal of my research and reading in 2025. Next week’s Monster Fest in Halifax, … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Original Research | Tagged Alterity, C.S. Lewis, monsterology, monsters, monstrosity, Narnia, Otherness, Out of the Silent Planet, The Screwtape Letters | 10 Comments

An Abundance of Spreadsheets about Tolkien’s Expanded Letters (Part 2 of Voyaging With Voyant)

Posted on March 4, 2025 by

Introducing The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien I have confessed before how much I value the letter collections of authors that intrigue me. Besides C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, I’ve spent time in correspondence collections by Dorothy L. Sayers, James Thurber, … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Christopher Tolkien, Digital Humanities, Dorothy L. Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkien, letter collections, letters, spreadsheets, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Voyant, Warren Lewis | 7 Comments

“Because My Old Heart Would Burst”: A Settler’s Reflections on Indigenous Spaces in Octavia Butler and C.S. Lewis (Theology on Tap by Brenton Dickieson)

Posted on March 2, 2025 by

I have some exciting news! On Tuesday, I will be giving a talk in the “Theology on Tap” series. After a pandemic hiatus, it is lovely to see this event emerge again. A few years ago, I did my “Hobbits … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Original Research, Reflections | Tagged Bloodchild, C.S. Lewis, Colonialization, Dymer, Indigenous Peoples, Narnia, Octavia E. Butler, Postcolonial literature, Prince Caspian, Ransom Cycle, Science Fiction, Theology on Tap, tyranny, Xenogenesis Trilogy | 10 Comments

Voyaging with Voyant in Tolkien’s Expanded Letters (Part 1: Background and Themes)

Posted on February 19, 2025 by

In this post, Dr. Brenton Dickieson discusses Tolkien’s newly expanded letter collection, exploring its publication history and significance, and playing with some Voyant text analytical tools to understand trends in Tolkien’s correspondence and his creative practice. Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research | Tagged Christopher Tolkien, Data Visualization, Digital Humanities, Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Voyant | 11 Comments

The Other Side of Screwtape: C.S. Lewis’s “Archangel Fragment”

Posted on October 2, 2024 by

Have I talked about this super cool bit of research and writing yet? As I look through the Pilgrim in Narnia archive, I see a couple of hints of the “Archangel Fragment,” but not much more. In a cultural moment … Continue reading →