Bandersnatch by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Multitudes of readers and movie-goers are familiar with the names and writings of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Many are also aware that the two literary giants were part of a ‘club’ called The Inklings, though they may not know anything about the group. Fewer realize that there were well over a dozen more Inklings, although some have heard of Christopher Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Owen Barfield. Hardly anyone can name all nineteen, and perhaps nobody has read every single thing ever published by every single one of them – except Dr. Diana Glyer.

From the treasure houses of knowledge accumulated over twenty-plus years of meticulous research, Dr. Glyer presents in Bandersnatch a well-balanced blend of trustworthy factual information and thoughtful insight regarding the individuals who were the Inklings, their personal interactions with one another, and both the public and private workings of the group as a corporate body.

The dual nature of this book makes it particularly helpful: it is not only a genuinely good, accessible biography of the Inklings; it is also an excellent, encouraging guidebook for those who wish to follow their example. Each chapter concludes with a succinct “Doing What They Did” summary, and the final section of the book is an epilogue outlining specific steps for starting a writing group.

Bandersnatch is both a significant contribution to Inklings scholarship and a valuable resource on collaborative creativity. I highly recommend it to Inklings lovers as well as writers and other artists seeking to live and create in community.

 

The Company They Keep by Diana Pavlac Glyer

It has been widely and vehemently put forth that the Inklings, a group comprised mainly of writers (including J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams) who met regularly to read their works to each other over the course of more than fifteen years, was simply and solely a social club.  Biographers, scholars, and in some cases the Inklings themselves have denied that the members of the group either exerted influence over or were influenced by the others.  Glyer, however, presents a convincing argument that it is a gross error to take such statements at face value.

In The Company They Keep, Glyer defines and delineates a number of areas in which the various Inklings did indeed have an impact not only on each other’s personal lives as friends, but also on their professional lives and works as colleagues.  Exhaustive evidence is provided to support these claims, demonstrating how these men acted and reacted upon each other as resonators, encouragers, sometime opponents, editors, collaborators, and referents.

Additionally, in the course of proving the influence of the Inklings on one another, Glyer makes a strong case for the importance of community in the life of every writer.

Writing to Change the World by Mary Pipher

All the readers and writers I know agree that words are powerful tools, and that they can, indeed, bring about great changes in individual lives, communities, and entire cultures.  However, wielding words effectively is a skill that even those with a natural gift for writing may fine-tune and improve with guidance and feedback from their peers.

Writer/therapist/activist Mary Pipher offers clear and practical advice for discerning appropriate forms and tones of writing to convey information, communicate ideas, and convince readers of the truth and importance of the issues being discussed.  She shares insights from her broad range of personal experience, from counseling troubled adolescent girls, to working to preserve an unspoiled prairie, to helping immigrants adapt to American life; giving examples of techniques that achieved their goals, as well as approaches that failed.  She also addresses adapting written words to effective speeches, the particular power of poetry and music, and the potential ramifications – both positive and negative – of instant electronic self-publication.

While some of Pipher’s tips are geared specifically toward writing as an activist, most are applicable to most types of writing, and seasoned professionals as well as novices may find something of value to glean from this book.