What name did C.S. Lewis use as the author of Spirits in Bondage?

C.S. Lewis used the pseudonym Clive Hamilton for Spirits in Bondage. The poetry collection was published in 1919, shortly after he returned from military service in the First World War.

Lewis had written the poems while wrestling with grief, war, suffering, and religious uncertainty. The pseudonym combined his first name, Clive, with Hamilton, his mother’s maiden name. It helped separate the poetry from his developing academic identity.

Lewis later published another poetry collection, Dymer, under the name Clive Hamilton in 1926. He used his better-known initials, C.S. Lewis, for later scholarly and popular works. The initials became strongly associated with Christian apologetics, fantasy, literary criticism, and medieval studies, but they were not the name on his earliest published poetry.