C.S. Lewis co-founded the Oxford discussion group known as the Inklings in 1933.
The Inklings were an informal literary group whose members met mainly in Oxford. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were central figures, and the group included writers such as Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, Warren Lewis, and later Roger Lancelyn Green. Members read aloud from works in progress and discussed literature, mythology, and Christianity.
The group’s name was adopted in the early 1930s from an earlier club connected with Edward Tangye. It was not a formal society with a fixed membership list or constitution. Meetings took place in rooms at Magdalen College and at the Eagle and Child pub, which members nicknamed the Bird and Baby.
The Inklings did not write a single shared book. Their importance lies in the exchange of ideas and criticism that supported major works by Lewis and Tolkien, including parts of the Narnia stories and The Lord of the Rings.