The Company They Keep

From Tolkien Gateway
The Company They Keep
The Company They Keep.jpg
AuthorDiana Pavlac Glyer
PublisherKent State University Press
ReleasedDecember 1, 2006
FormatHardcover
Pages288
ISBN0873388909

The Company They Keep is a book by Diana Pavlac Glyer which focuses on the friendship between J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

Publisher's description[edit | edit source]

The creators of Narnia and Middle-earth, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien were close friends and professional colleagues. They met frequently with a community of fellow writers at Oxford in the 1930s and 1940s, all sharing their works-in-progress. The group became known as the Inklings.

This important study challenges the standard interpretation that Lewis, Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and the other Inklings had little influence on one another’s work, drawing on the latest research in composition studies and the sociology of the creative process. Diana Glyer invites readers into the heart of the group, examining diary entries and personal letters and carefully comparing the rough drafts of their manuscripts with their final, published work.

Her analysis not only demonstrates the high level of mutual influence that characterized this writers group but also provides a lively and compelling picture of how writers and other creative artists challenge, correct, and encourage one another as they work together in community.

Contents[edit | edit source]

  1. Introduction: An Intellectual Dilemma
  2. Inklings: Building Community
  3. Influence: Assessing Impact
  4. Resonators: Supporting Progress
  5. Opponents: Issuing Challenge
  6. Editors: Making Changes
  7. Collaborators: Working Together
  8. Referents: Writing about Each Other
  9. Creativity: Appreciating Interaction


Awards[edit | edit source]

  • 2008 Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies;
  • NETS 2006/2007 Imperishable Flame Award.
  • Nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Related Book at Denvention
  • the 66th World Science Fiction Convention, held inDenver, Colorado.

External links[edit | edit source]