Advertise on podcast: Lewis Festival Scholar Series

Christin Ditchfield Lazo, author of more than 80 books and Bible studies, takes us deep into The Chronicles of Narnia—the best-selling children's series of the 20th century, with over 120 million copies in print. Drawing on decades of research behind her landmark book A Family Guide to Narnia, Kristin reveals where Lewis embedded the gospel without ever intending to write "Sunday school curriculum." Along the way, she shares the remarkable true story of an eight-year-old boy who feared he loved Aslan more than Jesus—and the letter C.S. Lewis wrote back to comfort him. Were these books secretly theology all along, or did the lion just come bounding in on his own?  You decide.

Welcome back for Season 8 Listeners! Reverend Andrew Lazo, internationally known speaker and writer specializing in Lewis and the Inklings, delivers the keynote address at the 2025 C.S. Lewis Festival. Drawing on two decades of research for his forthcoming definitive study of Till We Have Faces, Andrew argues that Lewis's most puzzling novel is not only his best book—Lewis said so himself—but the key to understanding everything Lewis ever wrote. And we may have had Lewis's central theme wrong for 70 years. Was his life's work really about joy, or was it always about something far deeper? You decide.

This podcast is on Madeleine L’Engle, author of one of theall time classic’s, A Wrinkle In Time. The seeker, Madeleine L’Engle, becomes the story teller.  One of the questions at the festival was did her Christianity effect her stories? Or did her stories effect her Christianity? This podcast delves into that question and much much more featuring someone who knew her not just as a friend but as a grandmother. Lena Roy, who along with her sister, Charlotte Jones Voiklis, wrote the biography: Becoming Madeleine. Lena delves into the writing process and what they discovered along the way.  For more information on the annual CS Lewis Festival each September at the renowned Great Lakes Center for the Arts in Bay Harbor, Michigan please visit us at CSLewisfestival.org in Petoskey, Michigan.

Today’s podcast features Festival co-founder, Sarah Arthur. Sarah is the author of a dozen nonfiction books on the intersection of faith and great literature, including the award-winning A Light So Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L’Engle, Sarah also co-directs, along with Sophfronia Scott, the  L’Engle Writing Retreats held annually in the U.S. Sarah’s Young Adult fantasy series: Once A Queen, and recently featured on NBC’s Today Show, is inspired by authors like Lewis and L’Engle. As part of this growing podcast series we’re taking a look at the 2024 CS Lewis Festival featuring a unique group of speakers, and authors delving into the theme: The Seeker & the Storytellers featuring C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, and Thomas Merton.

This podcast features award winning journalist Sophfronia Scott, founding director of the Alma College MFA in Creative Writing and author of The Seeker & The Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton. Sophfronia also has many other nonfiction and fiction titles to her credit. She is, along with Sarah Arthur, Co-Director of the L’engle Writing Retreat. As part of this growing podcast series we’re taking a look at the 2024 CS Lewis Festival featuring a unique group of speakers, and authors delving into the theme: The Seeker & the Storytellers featuring C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, and Thomas Merton. All 3 were 20th-century seekers whose moral imagination and spiritual quests were transformed by reading great books. All three went on to become renowned authors, poets, and storytellers of faith whose works are widely influential today.

Dr. Root continues his theme from his keynote address including what he feels is man’s greatest sin.  (And it’s not what Lewis felt was man’s greatest sin!). You decide.   As part of this growing podcast series we’re taking a look at the CS Lewis Festival last September in Petoskey, Michigan. Over 1,200 people attended a variety of cultural, religious, and educational events along the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan. For this year’s festival in September please visit us at cslewisfestival.org for events and registration.

Lewis wrote personal letters to everyone who wrote him but he held Anglican Bishop Arthur Greeves in high esteem. Why did he write over 300 letters over 50 years to Greeves? Find out in this deeply personal reflection on Lewis by emeritus professor of Wheaton College,  Dr. Wayne Martindale.

Professor Don W. King gives us remarkable insights into the life and mind of Warren's famous brother, C. S. Lewis.  In his much anticipated new biography on Warnie, Professor King provides an illuminating window into the events, personalities, and culture of 20th-century England.

How do you define friendship? And why was friendship, in all walks of life,  central to C. S. Lewis’s life?  Esteemed author, professor, and speaker Dr. Jerry Root takes a deep dive in an area of Lewis’s life that is revealing and timely.

Today’s podcast features Festival Co-Founder Sarah Arthur. Sarah is the author of a dozen nonfiction books on the intersection of faith and great literature. She shares a profound, multifaceted talk on her love of Lewis and her argument with him based on the Festival’s 2022 theme, “Women and C.S. Lewis.” For more information on the annual C.S. Lewis Festival that takes place every September, please visit us at cslewisfestival.org.

Ann Voskamp was the featured speaker in 2022 at the annual C.S. Lewis Festival in Petoskey, Michigan. Her talk, Reflections and Women and C.S. Lewis, took place at the Saturday Seminar at Great Lakes Center for the Arts. It is a story of women, C.S. Lewis, and a story that moves far beyond the walls of the world. For more information on the annual C.S. Lewis Festival that takes place every September, please visit us at cslewisfestival.org.

The C.S. Lewis Festival welcomed best-selling author Ann Voskamp as keynote speaker in 2022. At a sold-out event at Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Ann talked about the joy combined with the profound struggles she went through in writing her latest book WAYMAKER: Finding the way to the life you’ve always dreamed of. It is a deeply personal and moving talk and includes a poignant sit-down discussion with Festival Co-Founder Sarah Arthur. For more information on the annual C.S. Lewis Festival that takes place every September, please visit us at cslewisfestival.org.

This episode features Kristen Johnson, Professor of Theology and Christian Formation at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. In 2018, Kristen was named as one of the "New Female Theologians Worth Knowing" by Christianity Today. This recording is of her lecture "The Inner Ring: How C.S. Lewis can help us Engage Friendship, Community and our Deep Differences." Many writers and thinkers are asking questions about how we can navigate the deep differences of our age.  In a memorable lecture delivered in 1944, C.S. Lewis probed what he believed to be a permanent aspect of human existence, namely our desire to be on the inside of the "inner ring" and our terror at the prospect of being left on the outside. Kristen explores this in a very engaging and profoundly enlightening talk.

Hear Trygve Johnson share on a deeply personal and profound topic, Providential Friendship: How God used a simple friendship to inspire the imagination of the Christian faith. His talk delves into the concept of providence in friendships and the  specific, God-inspired friendship of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien.

David Crouse sits down with Philip at the majestic Great Lakes Center for the Arts in Bay Harbor, Michigan. Over 300 attended in what turned out to be a deeply personal interview with Philip on the cusp of the launch of, what Philip said, is the most important book he’s ever written, his auto-biography, Where the Light Fell. Publishers Weekly calls it “a gripping memoir”.