C. S. Lewis at Poet's Corner

On the fiftieth anniversary of his death, C. S. Lewis was memorialized in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, taking his place beside the greatest names in English literature. Oxford and Cambridge Universities, where Lewis taught, also held commemorations. This volume gathers together addresses from those events. Rowan Williams and Alister McGrath assess Lewis's legacy in theology, Malcolm Guite addresses his integration of reason and imagination, William Lane Craig takes a philosophical perspective, while Lewis's successor as Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English, Helen Cooper, considers him as a critic. The collection also includes more personal and creative responses: Walter Hooper, Lewis biographer, recalls their first meeting; there are poems, essays, a panel discussion, and even a report by the famous "Mystery Worshipper" from the Ship of Fools website, along with a moving reflection by royal wedding composer Paul Mealor about how he set one of Lewis's poems to music. Containing theology, literary criticism, poetry, memoir, and much else besides, this volume reflects the breadth of Lewis's interests and the astonishing variety of his own output: a diverse and colorful commemoration of an extraordinary man. "Formidably learned and capable of dazzling eloquence, C. S. Lewis was one of the towering intellects of the twentieth century. Interest in his work and achievements persists unabated. The lucid power and luminous imagination of the mind of Lewis, moreover, is most admirably illustrated in this fine collection of essays by a distinguished and distinctive group of scholars." --Douglas Hedley, Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge; author, The Iconic Imagination "This unique and essential volume provides a fitting tribute to C. S. Lewis on the fiftieth anniversary of his death, including the actual proceedings of the historic event at Westminster Abbey, as well as suitably wide-ranging engagements with his remarkable achievements as scholar, theologian, apologist, poet, and imaginative writer." --Robert MacSwain, Associate Professor of Theology, Sewanee: The University of the South; coeditor of The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis Michael Ward is a Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford, and Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist University, Texas. He is author of Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis (2008). Peter S. Williams is Assistant Professor in Communication and Worldviews at Gimlekollen College, NLA University, Norway. His books include C. S. Lewis vs. the New Atheists (2013) and A Faithful Guide to Philosophy (2013).

Michael Ward is a Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford, and Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist University, Texas. He is author of Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis (2008).


Based in Southampton, England, Christian philosopher and apologist Peter S. Williams (MA, MPhil, PGCert) aims to serve God, his Church and his world through a ministry of writing and speaking internationally on behalf of the truth, goodness and beauty of following Jesus. Over four decades, Peter has modelled a Christian approach to philosophy as "a discipline aimed at the wise pursuit and dissemination of true answers to significant questions," and has developed a vision of Christian apologetics as "a spiritual discipline of loving, humble service that tries to use virtue-oriented rhetoric to lead people to be persuaded that a God-centred way of life through faithfulness to Jesus as Lord is a rational, good and beautiful choice to make."

Vernon White is visiting professor in the department of Theology & Religious Studies at King's College, London, and Senior Fellow of the Westminster Abbey Institute. He is the author of a number of books of moral and philosophical theology, most recently Purpose and Providence (2015/2018).