At which Oxford college did C.S. Lewis teach English literature for most of his career?

C.S. Lewis taught English literature at Magdalen College, Oxford, for most of his academic career.

Lewis became a fellow and tutor at Magdalen in 1925 and remained there until 1954. The college provided the setting for much of his teaching, scholarship, friendship, and writing. He was especially associated with the informal literary group known as the Inklings, whose members discussed works in progress and literary ideas.

In 1954, Lewis left Oxford for Cambridge University, where he became the first holder of the newly established chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Magdalene College, Cambridge. The Oxford and Cambridge colleges have similar names, which can cause confusion.

Magdalen College is pronounced “Maudlin,” another detail that often surprises visitors. Lewis’s Oxford years overlapped with the publication of major works including The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters, and The Chronicles of Narnia.