C.S. Lewis arrives in Sydney – through a new society, that is

There are a large number of C.S. Lewis Societies around the world – and there have been for many years. For instance, the New York C.S. Lewis Society began in 1969 (52 years ago).

Finally, Sydney is about to catch up.

Dr Christopher Cooper (a recently retired Mathematics lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney and C.S. Lewis fan) has announced the launch of the Sydney C.S. Lewis Society.

There’s likely no need to introduce C.S. Lewis, who is best known for his Christian books such as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters, as well as his Narnia fiction series, including The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But alongside these works, Lewis also produced literary criticism, where he specialised in Medieval and Renaissance Literature, and science fiction, such as Out of the Silent Planet. His marriage late in life to Joy Davidman is subject of the book, play and film Shadowlands.

The inaugural meeting of the Sydney C.S. Lewis Society will be held on Saturday, May 1, at Sydney’s Castlereagh Boutique Hotel.

Dr Cooper will chair the meeting and give a talk on his personal acquaintance with Lewis’ secretary Walter Hooper. Then journalist Kel Richards will talk about travelling “In the Footsteps of C.S. Lewis” in Oxford and Belfast. (Among his many books Richard has written four “1930s murder mysteries” featuring Lewis and his brother Warnie as the “detectives.”)

The meeting will begin at 10.30am, with coffee, tea and socialising from 10am.

If you have an interest in C.S. Lewis and would like to attend this meeting (or future meetings), contact Dr Cooper at [email protected] or 0403 077 473.