Madison is the perfect location for a C.S. Lewis conference, given Lewis’s intellectual approach to the Christian faith. The members of the C.S. Lewis Society of Madison seem to feel that way. The society is sponsoring a conference this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the Pyle Center on the University of Wisconsin Campus.
The theme of the conference is The Ten Books That Most Influenced C.S. Lewis. Speakers are coming from as far away as the University of Otago in New Zealand, New York University, and Houston Baptist University. I am particularly looking forward to hearing HBU professor Louis Markos, who I have interviewed in the past. Markos teaches courses on Lewis and is also involved in producing a movie called The Lion Awakes, which tells the story of the friendship between Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
I’m also looking forward to seeing Tom Key once again depict C.S. Lewis on stage. Key has been doing Lewis since 1978 and it was personally very exciting for me to finally have the chance to see Key in person during the last C.S. Lewis conference held here in Madison in January, 2008.
When Key was here last he did a version of the Screwtape Letters, one of the classic writings of Lewis. Earlier today I read an up-to-date Screwtape Letter adaptation, written by Isaac Sharp for American Baptist Press. I recomend this letter for your reading, and if you have a chance to attend any part of the Lewis conference this weekend, please do so.