Who co-founded the literary discussion group known as the Inklings with C.S. Lewis?

J.R.R. Tolkien co-founded the literary discussion group known as the Inklings with C.S. Lewis.

The Inklings were an informal Oxford literary circle that met mainly in the 1930s and 1940s. Lewis and Tolkien were central members, and their meetings involved reading drafts aloud, discussing literature, and debating ideas about myth, language, Christianity, and storytelling. The group met in college rooms and at the Eagle and Child pub, commonly called the Bird and Baby.

The circle was not a formal society with a fixed membership list or constitution. Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, Warren Lewis, and other writers were associated with it at different times. Tolkien’s friendship with Lewis was especially influential, and the two writers encouraged each other’s work.

Some accounts call Lewis the founder or principal organizer, so wording about “co-founding” can vary. Tolkien is nevertheless the standard answer when the question asks for the writer most closely paired with Lewis in establishing the Inklings.