C.S. Lewis belonged to the literary group called the Inklings.
The Inklings were an informal Oxford literary discussion group active mainly during the 1930s and 1940s. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were among its best-known members, and meetings often involved reading aloud and discussing works in progress. The group met regularly at The Eagle and Child pub and in Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College.
Other members included Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, Warren Lewis, and Hugo Dyson. The Inklings were not a formal society with an official constitution or membership ceremony. Their importance came from sustained friendship, criticism, and conversation about literature, mythology, language, and Christianity.
The group’s name is sometimes mistakenly treated as an acronym or an explicitly Christian organization. It was instead a playful name for people interested in writing and ideas. Tolkien’s early readings of The Lord of the Rings to the group are part of its enduring literary history.