C. S. Lewis was born on November 29, 1898, in Belfast, Ireland. As a young man, he hoped for a career as a poet, and published his first collection of poems in 1919. He studied at Oxford University, where he gained degrees in Greek & Latin Literature, Philosophy & Ancient Literature, and English. English literature became his primary field of study and his life's work. Eventually, he was a professor of English at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. However, today he is best known for his novels (especially the Narnia series) and for his writings in defense of Christianity. He did not become a Christian until 1931, when he was 33 years old; however, in looking back at his early life he could see that he had been desiring and searching for God from the time he was a small child. The theme of longing for God is seen in many of his works.

Bibliography

Books by Lewis: Here are a few of Lewis' works which would be good entry points into his thought.

The Chronicles of Narnia- a series of seven stories for children

The Great Divorce - an imaginative journey to hell and to heaven

Mere Christianity - a clear statement of Christian thought

An Experiment in Criticism - a book about the joys of reading

Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer - thoughts about becoming a person of prayer.

Books about Lewis: There have been many books written about C. S. Lewis, but here are a few of the best.

Pleasures Forevermore: The Theology of C. S. Lewis by John Randolph Willis

Real Presence: The Christian Worldview of C. S. Lewis as Incarnational Reality by Leanne Payne

Reading with the Heart: The Way into Narnia by Peter J. Schakel

Bright Shadow of Reality: C. S. Lewis and the Feeling Intellect by Corbin Scott Carnell

The Pilgrim's Guide: C. S. Lewis and the Art of Witness edited by David Mills

The C. S. Lewis Readers' Encyclopedia edited by Jeffrey Schultz and John G. West

Links:

"Into the Wardrobe" - http://cslewis.drzeus.net/

"An Night with C. S. Lewis" http://webevents.broadcast.com/gaylord/cslewis1000/view.asp#

"C. S. Lewis - 20^th-century Christian Knight" - http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ26.HTM