by Michael Ward
xv
xvi
introduction
accomplishments and his continuing influence on British
national life.
It has been my privilege to interview Dr. Michael Ward,
lead organizer of this fast-approaching celebration.
SMITH
Dr. Ward, what is the significance of Poets’ Corner—especially
from a British point of view?
WARD
Poets’ Corner is perhaps the most famous part of Westminster
Abbey. Over one hundred poets, novelists, dramatists, and
other artists (including actors and musicians) are buried or
commemorated there. The first poet to be buried in the Ab-
bey was Geoffrey Chaucer, the “father of English poetry,” in
1400. Others who have been honoured include Shakespeare,
Wordsworth, the Brontë sisters, and Jane Austen.
To be memorialized in Poets’ Corner means you’ve re-
ceived national recognition for your contribution to the arts.
Westminster Abbey has been at the heart of religious and civic
life in England for over a thousand years and is known as “the
coronation church.” William the Conqueror was crowned
there on Christmas Day 1066. Our present monarch, Queen
Elizabeth II, was crowned there in 1953. So, for C. S. Lewis to
be memorialized in the Abbey is an indication of the respect
in which he is held and an acknowledgement of his enduring
place in the world of English letters.
SMITH
Why is this particular event significant—globally and within
the community of Lewis scholars and readers?
WARD
Globally, because Westminster Abbey is renowned world-
wide and almost everything that happens there receives atten-
tion internationally.
It’s significant among the community of Lewis scholars
and readers because so much of that community has, hitherto,
been based in America, and now things are beginning to even
themselves out. In comparison to Americans, the British have
been rather slow to recognize Lewis’s importance. I don’t say
that the British have completely ignored him till now; he has
always been reasonably popular here, but less so than in the
United States. Part of that is simply to do with differences in
introduction
xvii
national temperament: the British (and, in particular, the Eng-
lish) are reluctant to make an enthusiastic noise about their
favourite authors because we fear being mocked for it. “Mod-
eration in all things,” tends to be the English way! Partly it’s to do with a strain of Anglophilia in certain parts of American
culture. And partly, perhaps, it could be to do with the fact that
“a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country.”
Another reason it’s significant within the community of
Lewis scholars is because several attempts have been made
over the years from within that group to have Lewis memo-
rialized in the Abbey, and at last the Abbey has said yes. Dr.
Stan Mattson of the C. S. Lewis Foundation had suggested it
on previous occasions; I myself had tried back in 1998; I think
various other people had tried too—and always the Dean of
the Abbey, whose sole decision it is, had declined. But now the
present Dean of the Abbey, Dr. John Hall, has graciously con-
sented to the suggestion and it’s going ahead. So, I know that
a lot of people within the community of Lewis scholars and
readers will be pleased—delighted—and I think everyone who
has petitioned the Abbey about this matter over the decades
can consider themselves to have contributed to the present
positive situation.
SMITH
In the official press release announcing this memorial, Vernon
White, Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey, said: “C. S.
Lewis was an extraordinarily imaginative and rigorous thinker
and writer, who was able to convey the Christian faith in a way
that made it both credible and attractive to a wide range of
people. He has had an enduring and growing influence in our
national life.”
There is a fairly widespread belief that Lewis was less well
accepted by the British after World War II and was hailed as an
evangelical hero in America. Neither side of this spectrum is
really accurate. Obviously, the British people were deeply in-
fluenced by Lewis through his broadcast talks and his “popu-
lar” writings. And Americans went through a period after his
death of declining interest in Lewis, which was later followed
by a renewal of esteem that hasn’t waned. From your perspec-
tive, what is Lewis’s enduring and growing influence on British
national life?
xviii
introduction
WARD
The most easily recognisable influence, I think, has been
through the popularity of The Chronicles of Narnia. Those
books, and in particular the first, The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe, are very widely known in Britain. People have grown up knowing about Narnia and it’s now an established
point of reference in the culture at large. Several times in recent years, I’ve been watching BBC comedy programmes and have
observed various comedians making jokes—usually friendly
sorts of jokes, I’m pleased to say—which assume knowledge
of magic wardrobes or how time stands still when you’re in
Narnia or the danger of eating Turkish Delight. And these
comedians are right: everyone in Britain, pretty much, can
be expected to know about these things. The Chronicles rep-
resent that aspect of Lewis’s influence which is truly national
and ubiquitous, and who can say exactly what that impact has
been? All I can say is, from the reading I’ve done and from
countless conversations I have with people over the years, that
it’s immeasurable and very largely positive.
The other aspects of his influence—his Christian apolo-
getics (such as The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity) and his academic writings (such as The Allegory of Love and A Preface to Paradise Lost)—are more confined to particular groups within the nation. And there again, it’s impossible to
quantify. But many, many people have been brought into a
Christian faith, or strengthened within an existing faith, by his
writings and by his personal example; and many scholars, both
Christian and non-Christian, have been inspired by his aca-
demic output. It’s really remarkable how much of an influence
Lewis has had, in his imaginative writings, his apologetics, and
his professional works of literary criticism. By any standards,
it’s an outstanding achievement and an unparalleled range of
influences.
Then, of course, there’s an influence that is related to
Lewis, but not directly part of his own life and work, I mean
the Shadowlands story of his marriage and bereavement. This was first of all a BBC television film, then a West End stage-play, then a feature film starring Anthony Hopkins, and finally
a BBC radio-play. The writer, William Nicholson, managed to
get four iterations of the drama, which is quite extraordinary!
have encountered Shadowlands, but of course the story has
introduction
xix
been greatly simplified and dramatized and romanticized and
actually bears only a fairly loose connection to reality. Still,
it’s part of the overall picture of Lewis’s place in the British
national consciousness, and worth bearing in mind. Lewis is
widely thought of not just as a writer, but as a man who loved
and lost, who suffered bereavement but still trusted in God.
And although Shadowlands is very unreliable, it is at least right in those respects and has had a part to play in making
Lewis known to certain people who might otherwise never
have heard of him.
SMITH
How did the idea for this memorial come about?
WARD
The Abbey has an Institute for public education; it puts on
lectures, debates, seminars, and other events of various kinds.
One of the canons at the Abbey, Vernon White, thought that
the fiftieth anniversary of Lewis’s death would be a good time
for the Institute to organise some sort of event focusing on
Lewis’s work as a Christian writer and apologist. Canon White
got in touch with me to discuss ideas and, in consort with the
Institute’s Director, Claire Foster-Gilbert, we decided to have
a one-day Symposium, featuring two lectures from leading
Lewis scholars, plus a Panel Discussion in which a group of
invited experts would assess Lewis’s legacy for Christian apol-
ogetics in the twenty-first century. The Institute was already
planning a programme of events for autumn 2013 under the
title “Telling the Truth,” and so we agreed to incorporate the
Lewis Symposium within that larger undertaking.
And while we were talking about the Symposium, I
asked whether it might not be an opportune moment to revisit
the notion of a Poets’ Corner memorial. Vernon indicated that
the time could be ripe, and so I approached several friends
and colleagues who agreed to be co-signatories to a letter
that I wrote to the Dean, suggesting that very thing. The co-
signatories were:
i. Helen Cooper, Professor of Medieval and Renaissance
English at the University of Cambridge. She holds the
professorial chair that Lewis was the first occupant of;2
2 Helen Cooper held Lewis’s old Chair from 2004–14.
xx
introduction
ii. The then President of the Oxford University Lewis Soci-
ety, Ryan Pemberton;
iii. Alister McGrath, author of C. S. Lewis, A Life, and Professor of Theology, Ministry and Education at King’s Col-
lege, University of London;3
iv. Michael Ramsden, Director of the Oxford Centre for
Christian Apologetics;
v. Dr. Judith Wolfe, Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford, and
editor of The Journal of Inklings Studies.4
The Dean of the Abbey, Dr. John Hall, wrote back very
positively and it was agreed that news of the memorial would
be announced in November 2012, giving us a whole year to
raise the money for it. The Abbey doesn’t fund such memorials
itself, so it is up to me, as the main initiator of the project, to find the necessary support from Lewis’s readers and admirers
round the world. Jason Lepojärvi, the current President of the
Oxford Lewis Society, is helping oversee the finances.
Even a relatively small memorial, such as this one, costs a
huge amount of money because anything that affects the fabric
of the Abbey has to be of high quality, both in materials and
design. Also, the Abbey requires, quite properly, an additional
sum as a contribution to the ongoing maintenance of memori-
als. And finally, certain other incidental expenses also need to
be met by supporters of the project (for instance, the cost of
producing the Order of Service).
The names of contributors will be compiled into a list
and deposited in the Bodleian Library in the University of
Oxford, among the papers of the Oxford Lewis Society, so that
future generations of scholars can see who helped this memo-
rial to be realized. We won’t mention the size of individuals’
contributions, because we understand that people have all
sorts of claims upon their giving and the amount you donate
is not really the relevant thing. Any amount is very gratefully
received, be it large, medium, or small. What we want is for
3 Alister McGrath is now the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford, Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, and Fellow of Harris Manchester College.
4 Judith Wolfe is now Lecturer in Theology and the Arts, School of Divinity, University of St Andrews.
introduction
xxi
this list to demonstrate the extent of Lewis’s readership; and it
will also provide an opportunity for people whose lives have
been deeply impacted by Lewis’s work to put that on record in
a permanent form in the library of the university where Lewis
spent most of his career.
SMITH
Can you tell me anything about the design of the memorial,
and how it will be worded?
WARD
It will be a flag-stone kind of memorial, embedded in the
pavement of Poets’ Corner. The exact size and shape and lo-
cation will be decided by the Abbey authorities, taking into
account the existing memorials and the space available and
so on. Ptolemy Dean, Surveyor of the Fabric at the Abbey, will
have oversight of all the practical details relating to its design and manufacture.
Regarding the wording: obviously Lewis’s name and
dates are the main things. As for a possible inscription from
his own writings: I took soundings among Lewis experts and
among the co-signatories to the letter, and the most popular
option was the closing sentence of one his most famous ad-
dresses to the Oxford Socratic Club, the university debating
society of which he was President for many years:
I believe in Christianity
as I believe that the Sun has risen,
not only because I see it
but because by it I see everything else.
We put this suggestion to the Abbey and, after careful con-
sideration by a committee that deals with these things, they
approved the idea. It’s an eminently suitable quotation, memo-
rable, meaningful, not overlong, and with a beautiful balance
to it. I will have a chance to explain some of the deeper think-
ing behind the choice in a note in the Order of Service, so
that the congregation can understand the way it neatly ties
together many different areas of Lewis’s life and work. The fact
that it comes from an address entitled “Is Theology Poetry?”
makes it particularly apt for Poets’ Corner, I think.
xxii
introduction
SMITH
It’s been fifty years since Lewis died and in that period his
reputation has been developing in various ways. How would
you describe what his legacy is and is becoming?
WARD
<
br /> It’s too big and too varied to speak about in just a short answer.
You only need to look at the huge numbers of books and ar-
ticles that are published about Lewis every year to see the size
of it. Some people dislike Lewis intensely. Some people simply
dismiss him. But I think that the majority of those who engage
with him seriously, even though they may disagree with him,
find him stimulating, helpful, even inspiring in a number of
different ways, as a scholar, as a thinker, and as a writer.
I think that, as time goes by, people are coming to real-
ize that Lewis, whether you happen to agree with him or not,
is a very substantial figure who needs to be reckoned with.
His combination of intellect, imagination, and faith is rare.
It’s influential. At the very least, it’s interesting. I think it’s not insignificant that the publishing houses of Lewis’s two universities, Oxford University Press and Cambridge University
Press, have in recent years begun to publish scholarly works
that address and analyse his impact. OUP has to date pub-
lished three titles on Lewis’s writings, and CUP has published
The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis. As time goes by and Lewis’s readership shows no sign of waning—on the contrary,
it only seems to be growing and deepening—he is coming to
the attention of many people who wouldn’t automatically re-
gard him as worth consideration. But an enduring audience,
fifty years after death, is unusual and can’t be ignored for ever.
And I think the fact that Lewis’s great friend, Tolkien, is also
showing no signs of disappearing from the cultural landscape
reacts favourably on Lewis’s own standing.
The two men together are now established, I think, as
unavoidably major figures from the middle of the last century.
If you want to understand the intellectual and imaginative
history of the English-speaking world over the last sixty or
seventy years, you have to take these two into account. They’re
becoming increasingly rooted as a pair of giants, like Word-
sworth and Coleridge, for example, from the previous century.
SMITH
What do you hope will be the broader outcome of this event
and the memorial?
introduction
xxiii
WARD
The unveiling of the memorial is bound to receive a lot of me-
dia attention round the world, and I’m sure that that will result