The Oxford writers’ group that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien is commonly called the Inklings. The group was an informal discussion circle rather than an official literary society, and its members met to read and discuss works in progress.
The Inklings were active mainly during the 1930s and 1940s. Lewis and Tolkien were central figures, while other participants included Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, Hugo Dyson, and Lewis’s brother Warren. Meetings took place in Oxford rooms and, famously, at the Eagle and Child pub, known to the group as the Bird and Baby.
The members did not share a single style or genre. Their conversations included mythology, Christianity, poetry, fantasy, and literary criticism. Tolkien read parts of The Lord of the Rings to the group, while Lewis shared drafts and ideas for several of his own works.
The Inklings were not the same as the Bloomsbury Group, an earlier London-based circle associated with writers and artists such as Virginia Woolf. The two groups belonged to different places and generations.