Lewis Festival Scholar Series

Kristin 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...

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—bu...

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...

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...

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 seri...

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 sh...

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, pleas...

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 Septem...

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 discussi...

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...

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”.

Join us for a very special interview with renowned author Ann Voskamp! Festival Co-Founder David Crouse sits down for a zoom interview with Ann to discuss her new book, life, and of course, C.S Lewis. Consider this a taste of the 2022 C.S Lewis Festival headlined by Ann Voskamp herself!

This is the third and final talk on C.S. Lewis and War delivered by esteemed author and Dorothy Sayers scholar Crystal Downing. Downing is Co-Director of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College and co-holder of the Marion E. Wade Chair in Christian Thought at Wheaton College: a position she shares with her husband Dr. David Downing. Crystal spoke on how the two world wars influenced not only...

The 2nd talk in this series, Lewis and War, is a marvelous presentation by Dr. David Downing, Co-Director, of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College and co-holder of the Marion E. Wade Chair in Christian Thought at Wheaton College: a position he shares with his wife Crystal Downing.   The title of David’s talk is C.S. Lewis: Neither Patriot nor Pacifist but Patient

Welcome to season 3 of the Lewis Festival Scholar Series! This first episode visits 2015 for a talk by Dr. Joseph Loconte, Senior Fellow in Christianity and Culture at King’s College in New York City and Director of the Simon Center for American Studies at the Heritage Foundation.  He is also a highly respected speaker and author and he based his talk on his book A Hobbit, A Wardrobe and A Great W...

Film producer and podcast host David Crouse in a free ranging interview with renowned British poet & author Malcom Guite. Included is Malcom’s personal reflection on C.S. Lewis, Grateful Dead founder Jerry Garcia, Dante, Keats & Shelly, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

In the penultimate episode of Season 2, Lewis scholar Rev. Dr. Michael Ward presents his discovery that the Narnia books are secretly patterned according to the imagery of the 7 heavens. 

This episode continues a talk from the 2018 C.S. Lewis Festival in which Rev. Dr. Malcolm Guite examines Dante's influence over renowned poets including Chaucer, Milton, Shelly, T.S. Elliot, and, especially, C.S. Lewis.

In this episode, we get the first of two talked on Lewis’s masterpiece, The Chronicles of Narnia, and why it’s considered the greatest children’s fantasy series of the 20th century, by Lewis Scholar & best-selling author Rev. Dr. Michael Ward.

In the debut episode of The Lewis festival Scholar Series, we visit 2018 to hear from renowned poet & author Rev. Dr. Malcolm Guite. Rev. Dr. Guite shares his knowledge of the Lewis and Dante and their common thread, explains why Lewis was a life-long reader of Dante’s, and much more. Join us for the rest of Season 2, released on Fridays at noon.