PRESS RELEASE

C.S. LEWIS FOUNDATION TO COMMEMORATE

THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF AUTHOR C.S. LEWIS’S DEATH

Foundation to host events in the United States and England

The C.S. Lewis Foundation of Redlands, California, will present a series of events in the United States and England over the next two years to celebrate the ongoing legacy of the celebrated British scholar and writer, C.S. Lewis (1898-1963).

Clive Staples Lewis was an acclaimed author and scholar. He is particularly honored for his contributions in literary criticism, apologetics, and children’s fantasy literature. Lewis’ works have been translated into over thirty languages, and millions of copies have been sold worldwide.

The majority of his 40 plus books have remained in print since his death on November 22, 1963 (the same day President John F. Kennedy and author Aldous Huxley died). The most well-known of Lewis’ works are The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters.

To celebrate this legacy, the C.S. Lewis Foundation will host events in San Diego (CA), Houston (TX), Oxford (UK), and Cambridge (UK). The first event in the series will be the C.S. Lewis Summer Conference in San Diego. Taking place at the University of San Diego, the conference will feature a wide range of noted C.S. Lewis scholars and performing artists. The theme is “Living the Legacy: The Vision, Voice, & Vocation of C.S. Lewis.”

In the fall of 2013, in Houston, the series will expand to include a commemoration of Lewis’s friend and colleague, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, who died 40 years ago in 1973. Both men were members of the famed literary group the Inklings. The theme of the event – “The Forge of Friendship: Tolkien, Lewis, & the Creative Impulse” – will explore the close friendship between these two men and how it influenced their lives, careers, and writing. The C.S. Lewis Regional Conference will take place in November 2013.

The culminating event of this celebration of Lewis’s life and legacy will be the 2014 C.S. Lewis Summer Institute. Also known as “Oxbridge,” this event is held every three years at distinguished colleges in Oxford and Cambridge, England. The conference will explore important contemporary themes with renowned scholars from the arts and sciences, leaders in ministry and the major professions, and literary, visual and performing artists. The ninth Summer Institute will take place in late July 2014, on the theme “Volumes of Vision: Human Excellence in the 21st Century?”

For further information, visit www.cslewis.org, call (909)793-0949, or contact Steven Elmore, Director of Communications, at selmore@cslewis.org.

About the C.S. Lewis Foundation: Inspired by the life and legacy of C.S. Lewis, the C.S. Lewis Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the renewal of Christian thought and creative expression throughout the world of learning and the culture at large. Since its founding in 1986, the C.S. Lewis Foundation has pursued its mission through national conferences and retreats, the C.S. Lewis Faculty Forum, and the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute. The Foundation also owns and restored Lewis’s home, “The Kilns” (Oxford, England), which operates as a Study Centre for visiting resident scholars. As a key objective of its mission, the Foundation has long envisioned establishing C.S. Lewis College. For more information visit www.cslewis.org or www.cslewiscollege.org.