The literary discussion group J.R.R. Tolkien attended at Oxford was called the Inklings.
The Inklings were an informal group of writers and scholars who met mainly at Oxford’s Eagle and Child pub, known to members as the Bird and Baby, and sometimes in college rooms. The group was active particularly during the 1930s and 1940s. Members read works in progress aloud and discussed literature, theology, and imaginative writing.
C. S. Lewis was another prominent member, and Tolkien read early material connected with his developing mythology to the group. The Inklings were not a formal society with a fixed membership list or published manifesto. That informality is why descriptions of the group can vary slightly.
The name is often mistakenly treated as an acronym. It was instead a playful name associated with people who had literary ideas or “inklings.”