Which informal literary group included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien?

The Inklings was the informal literary group that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

The Inklings met mainly at Oxford during the 1930s and 1940s. Members and regular participants read aloud from works in progress, discussed literature, and debated ideas. The group was not a formal society with a constitution or fixed membership.

Lewis and Tolkien were among its best-known figures. Other participants included Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, Warren Lewis, and Hugo Dyson. Meetings took place in locations including Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College and the Eagle and Child pub, commonly called the Bird and Baby.

The group did not function as a co-authoring partnership. Its value came from criticism, encouragement, and conversation. Readers sometimes confuse the Inklings with Bloomsbury, a different London-centered literary and artistic network. The Inklings were especially associated with Oxford and with the development of major works of fantasy and Christian literary thought.