What was the name of C.S. Lewis’s close Oxford literary group?

C.S. Lewis belonged to The Inklings, an informal Oxford literary group. The group met mainly from the 1930s into the 1940s to read aloud and discuss works in progress.

The Inklings were not a formal society with a membership list or constitution. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were among its best-known members, and the group also included Charles Williams and Owen Barfield. Meetings took place in Oxford settings, including the Eagle and Child pub, which members familiarly called the Bird and Baby.

Members offered criticism, encouragement, and conversation about mythology, literature, language, and Christianity. The group is sometimes mistakenly treated as a publishing organization or a university department. Its importance came from sustained friendship and discussion, not from an official institutional structure.