The Oxford literary group associated with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien was called the Inklings.
The Inklings were an informal discussion group of writers and scholars who met in Oxford, especially during the 1930s and 1940s. Members read aloud from works in progress and discussed literature, myth, theology, and ideas about storytelling.
Lewis and Tolkien were among the group’s best-known members, but the Inklings were not a formal society with a fixed membership list or published manifesto. Charles Williams and Owen Barfield were also important participants. Meetings took place in college rooms and at the Eagle and Child pub, which members nicknamed the Bird and Baby.
The group’s name was a wordplay on literary “ink” and the notion of an idea or hint. It is sometimes confused with other Oxford societies, but the Inklings specifically refers to this circle of writers and readers.