Owen Barfield; First and Last Inkling

Owen Barfield: First and Last Inkling

Christina Weigand

Owen Barfield has been known as “the first and last Inkling”. In spite of this he is one of the lesser known Inklings. I had trouble finding information about him or his life, but I will share what I found.

Owen Barfield was born in London to Elizabeth and Arthur Barfield on November 9, 1898 and had three older siblings. He received his education at Highgate School and Wadham College where he received a first class degree in English language and literature in 1920. After achieving his degree he was a dedicated poet and author for over ten years. In 1934 he became a solicitor in London from which he retired in 1959. Thereafter he served as a Visiting Professor in North America. He also published numerous essays, books and articles before his death on December 14, 1997 at 99 years old.

One interesting fact that stood out in his life was his influence on C.S. Lewis with his books The Silver Trumpet and Poetic Diction (dedicated to Lewis). Barfield met Lewis in 1919 as students at Oxford University and they remained close friends for 44 years. Lewis claimed that his friendship with Barfield was one of the most important in his life. He even dedicated his book Allegory of Love to Barfield. When Lewis wrote The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was written for and dedicated to Barfield’s daughter. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was for Barfield’s son Geoffrey.  Barfield was influential in converting Lewis from Atheism to Christianity.

Besides being an influence on Lewis with his books, he also influenced J.R.R. Tolkien. It wasn’t quite the same as the influence that was had on Lewis, but the influence came out in the language used in The Hobbit and later in Lord of the Rings as well as lectures Tolkien gave.

Barfield is characterized as a Christian writer as well as an anti-reductionist author. All of his books are available in new additions including; Worlds Apart, The Silver Trumpet, Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry, History in English Words, and Poetic Diction.

	Worlds Apart is a fictional account of a dialogue between a physicist, a biologist, a lawyer-philologist, a linguistic analyst, a theologian, a retired Waldorf School teacher and a young man employed at a rocket research station. During a three day period they discuss and debate first principles.
Saving the Appearances covers three thousand years of history of the human consciousness.
	The Silver Trumpet is a children’s book where he strives to show “the importance of the romantic element in relations between a man and a woman….And more widely than that, the importance of the feeling element in life.” (Owen Barfield, 1984)This was first published as a fantasy book by an Inkling.
Poetic Diction explores the theory of poetic diction as well as the theory of poetry and theory of knowledge.

History in English Words explores the history through the English language.

Owen Barfield may not be as well-known as some of the other Inklings, but he did make a huge impression on a few of them. His numerous works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry continue to influence us today.

Photos from: https://www.amazon.com/Owen-Barfield/e/B0034OOJYC/

Quotes from Owen Barfield Literary Estate: http://www.owenbarfield.org/

And Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Barfield

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YouTube Adventures #2 – Story Time

By Toi Thomas

In my last YouTube adventure, I talked about my ToiBox of Words, but today I’m sharing something from my Lit Carnivale channel.

Today, I share a little project I’ve been working on for a while. I finally got fed up with people not knowing about my children’s books, so I decided to share them with the world. Yes, I’d love to be able to make money off my writing (and hopefully a few people will support my work) but right now, I want to share it. I’ll be sharing it directly with all my old teacher friends as well as any parents I know.

These are not book trailers. This is a playlist of story time, read aloud videos of my 5 current children’s books. They are really short and really cute. I hope you will give them a look and will share them with your friends and family.

It is my hope to offer this type of video to other authors who like the idea of it and would like to see their books turned into story time videos. We’ll see what happens.

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Find out more about me, my work, and my inspiration at the following links:

Amazon | Goodreads | The ToiBox of Words | YouTube | See a list of my other posts here.

Click here to read more posts at our Blog Post Gallery

Women in Science Fiction – Mary Griffith

The first edition title page

Mary Corré Griffith (1772-1846) was the first (known) American woman to write a utopian novel as well as the first author to project the main character into the far future.

Paperback edition (2017)

Not only did her book Three Hundred Years Hence predict a strongly feminist future, it also presented a peaceful resolution to slavery and a voluntary return to Africa by African-Americans, where they were able to build a successful society without interference from white society. The story also predicted the extinction of Native Americans, which while true in the case of some tribes, fortunately did not become a reality for all the tribal nations.

From the 2017 paperback edition:
A sleeping young man is sealed in his house by an avalanche and awakens 300 years later in the year 2135 when the house is uncovered by excavation. Through this character, Griffith looks into the future of America from her time in 1836 as America's first known female utopian writer. She foretells a new form of power replacing steam engines, prohibition of liquor, women working jobs outside of the home, self-propelled farm equipment, income taxes, buildings made of fireproof materials, public construction and ownership of roads, breakup of monopolies, and other changes that were to come to America. 

First published in 1836 as part of her collection, Camperdown, or News from Our Neighborhood, Prime Press republished the novel in 1950 in a limited edition of 300 copies. Authors and critics Anthony Boucher and Jesse Francis McComas called the 1950 edition "an odd and delightful item of 1836 dealing with a strongly feminist future."

In addition to Three Hundred Years Hence, Griffith was deeply interested in the natural sciences, including horticulture, natural history, and the earth sciences. She conducted experiments on her Charlieshope estate in New Jersey and published the results in newspapers and scientific and literary journals.

From the digital library at UPenn: Three Hundred Years Hence
Amazon: Three Hundred Years Hence

Book Promo Sunday!

Book Promo Sunday

We're starting a new tradition at #OurAuthorGang.

Every Thursday we'll add a book promo post to our Facebook page such as this POST

We'll pick four books from the post to promote on our blog.

Enjoy this week's selection:

AMAZON

Science Fiction Lacy Dawn's father relives the never-ending Gulf War, her mother's teeth are rotting out, and her best friend is murdered by the meanest daddy on Earth. Life in the hollow is hard. She has one advantage - an android was inserted into her life and is working with her to cure her parents. But, he wants something in exchange. It's up to her to save the Universe. Lacy Dawn doesn't mind saving the universe, but her family and friends come first. An award winning adult social science fiction novel filled with tragedy, comedy, and satire that raises funds to help abused children.

AMAZON

Children's Fantasy Adana is a small, brown, earth dragon. She longs to play with the other dragons, but none of them will accept her as a friend. One day a giant wanders into the land of the dragons and scares all the other dragons. Can Adana save the day and prove that even a small brown earth dragon can do big things? An elemental tale from the author of P.A.W.S. and Esmeralda Grunch and the Red Tulip. Illustrated by Tina Wijesiri. "This is a wonderful story that kids will fall in love with. Beautifully written and illustrated. " Cindy Shirley, The Fabulous Life of Minnie the Sassy Chick

AMAZON

Epic High Fantasy for Adults Half-cast, spell-weaving prodigy, Malandar Denarlin, has failed the realms of Dallancea only once: when he died! Now Reborn a Guardian by the grace of the Maker, he exists for little other than the promise of vengeance and to protect the Veils of Time – something that has brought a measure of peace to his jaded nature. Yet when the Veils nearly fall and magic is laid to waste in an act of betrayal seemingly carried out by the one person he still trusts, Malandar knows that the very darkness he is oath-sworn to fight might yet return to offer him a second chance for redemption. The questions are many. The answers few. As old animosities flare up, are the allies Malandar is sworn to stand with till the end of time, still to be trusted?

The Free Short Story

Dark Fantasy/Paranormal Romance When English beauty and avid poetry lover Ophelia is holidaying with her two sisters in 19th century Blackpool, she finds herself unmistakably called to the water. Will she flee in horror at what lies beneath the waves, or can she learn to look beyond the shallows?

There is a lot going on in our Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/OurAuthorGang/

Join us

 Our Facebook page where we share blog posts and offer promos:

https://www.facebook.com/Our-Author-Gang-333279623762179/

Like and follow us

COMMENTS

Erika M Szabo via Google+

23 hours ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Great selection of books at #OurAuthorGang

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Ruth de Jauregui

14 hours ago

 

 

Thank you Erika!

Rick Haynes

38 minutes ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Great covers. Methinks some good work here.

 

Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

14 hours ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Another great group of books and a free story featured on #OurAuthorGang today!

You too can be featured on Sunday's post, just add your book links to the Thursday post on the Our Author Gang Page (on Facebook) AND share that post! (Please make it public so I can see that you shared it!)

 

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Reply

Ruth de Jauregui

14 hours ago  -  Shared publicly

 

It was a pleasure to look at the books and a hard choice. Don't forget the two qualifications to have your book selected. Add the links to the Thursday post on the Our Author Gang Page on Facebook AND share that post. (Please make it public so I can see the share -- THANKS!)

 

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Toi Thomas via Google+

18 hours ago  -  Shared publicly

 

It's Book Promo Sunday! #OurAuthorGang

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Ruth de Jauregui

14 hours ago

 

 

Thank you for sharing!

Eva Pasco

22 hours ago  -  Shared publicly

 

Congrats to the featured authors!

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Ruth de Jauregui

14 hours ago

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A great group of authors!

Stephanie Collins via Google+

22 hours ago  -  Shared publicly

Erika M Szabo originally shared this

 

Great selection of books at #OurAuthorGang

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Reply