Tag Archives: literature

Little Rooms of Imagination with Madeleine L’Engle and C.S. Lewis (Friday Feature)

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I tell my students often enough to read the fore-matter in their textbooks. “That’s where the good stuff is,” I argue. “That’s where the author shares his or her vision for writing.” Now, I suspect that students rarely heed my … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday, Memorable Quotes, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged A Swiftly Tilting Planet, A Wrinkle in Time, books, C.S. Lewis, children's literature, fairy tales, fantasy, imagination, lion the witch and the wardrobe, literature, Madeleine L'Engle, wardrobe, writing | 4 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 | 36 Comments

Joan Slonczewski’s “A Door Into Ocean” and C.S. Lewis’ “Out of the Silent Planet”

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

On the face of it, Joan Slonczewski and C.S. Lewis make an odd pair. The first is a living American microbiologist writing highly technical science fiction in environmental, feminist, lesbian, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged A Door Into Ocean, books, C.S. Lewis, creation care, environmentalism, feminism, Joan Slonczewski, LGBTQ Issues, literature, Out of the Silent Planet, Science Fiction, SciFi, SF, Theology of Culture, Theology of Literature | 2 Comments

Vote for the Ideal $250 Middle English Library for Teens

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

As I discussed last week, my son is part of a small school with a budding library. Recently a donor has offered a $250 (CDN) donation with a peculiar purpose: to secure Middle English books in honour of a recently … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday | Tagged alliterative poetry, Arthuriana, C.S. Lewis, courtly love, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Malory, Middle English, Morte Darthur, Pearl, Piers Plowman, Poetry, Simon Armitage, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Allegory of Love | 17 Comments

“A Novelist’s Business is Lying”: A Farewell to Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018)

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I have just heard that Ursula K. Le Guin has passed away. I could be humble about my opinion, but I want to impress upon you that she is one of our very greatest imaginative writers of the last 50 … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing | Tagged Arha, C.S. Lewis, Earthsea, fantasy, feminism, gender, Harry Potter, homosexuality, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Margaret Atwood, Narnia, Science Fiction, sex, The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin | 17 Comments

Literature, Film, and Technoculture Class at Signum University (Starts Tuesday)

Posted on January 13, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I wanted to announce this great SignumU live course starting next week. I have the pleasure of being the “Preceptor” for this lecture series by Dr. Chad Andrews. This science fiction-centred course counts toward the Imaginative Literature concentration, though many … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged 12 Monkeys, Brian Aldiss, District 9, J.G. Ballard, James Tiptree, Jr., Leslie F. Stone, literature, Margaret Atwood, Octavia E. Butler, research, RoboCop, Science Fiction, SciFi, SF, Signum University, Starship Troopers, Technoculture, WALL-E, William Gibson | 5 Comments

A Brace of Tolkien Posts for his 126th Birthday #TolkienBirthdayToast

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

To celebrate Tolkien’s twelfthty-sixth birthday on 3 January 2017, the Tolkien Society is once again raising a toast to the Professor. After Bilbo left the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday in The Lord of the Rings, Frodo toasted his uncle’s birthday each … Continue reading →