How To Harness The Power Of Invested Feedback Like The Inklings - C.S. Lewis - J.R.R. Tolkien - w/ Diana Pavlac Glyer

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Kevin Miller

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4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 July 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

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Summary

Most people have heard of The Inklings, the informal literary discussion group based in Oxford, England in the 1930s and 1940s, known for fostering the writing and development of fantasy and other genres and specifically the greatest writings, and friendships, of authors such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, of The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of The Rings fame. I am a great, great fan of Lewis and Tolkien and have always been enamored with this group they were a part of that met consistently for nearly two decades. A few years back I was introduced to a book called Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings. It was written by Diana Pavlac Glyer, a professor in the Honors College at Azusa Pacific University in Southern California where she teaches literature, history, theology, and philosophy in an integrated Great Books curriculum. In Diana’s book, Bandersnatch, she uses her research on The Inklings to explain what we can learn about creativity, productivity, collaboration and community. What I discovered from Diana was that this group of authors didn’t just meet to discuss and refine their work, but they were intrinsically involved in each other's work and not only spurred each other on, but actually sparred with each other. Diana greatly dispels what she refers to as, “the myth of the solitary genius.” The charge and takeaway from this conversation is the opportunity and great benefit we can derive from really investing in other’s pursuits. A structure I continue to grapple with creating, but am enamored with, as here is a group of people who did it, it helped create wild success, and we really struggle to follow their example. You can find Diana at dianaglyer.com Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome. I'm Kevin Miller. This is a podcast for your personal evolution. In this episode,
0:06.5	how to harness the power of invested feedback like the inklings, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
0:15.3	So most people have heard of the inklings, the informal literary discussion group based in Oxford,
0:22.7	England in the 1930s and 1940s. They were known for fostering the writing and development of a lot of fantasy, but other genres
0:27.6	too, and specifically the great writings and friendships of authors such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien
0:35.4	of The Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of Rings fame. Well, I'm a great, great fan of Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien of the Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of Rings fame. Well, I'm a great,
0:40.0	great fan of Lewis and Tolkien and have always been enamored with this group, the inklings that they
0:44.9	were part of that met consistently for nearly two decades, sometimes at a local university that
0:51.2	they taught out and sometimes at a pub. Well, a few years back, I was introduced to
0:56.5	a book called Bander Snatch, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the creative collaboration of the
1:04.6	inklings. That was, that's what it was about. It was written by Diana Pavlack Glyer. She's a professor
1:10.0	in the Honors College at Azusa Pacific University in Southern California,
1:15.2	where she teaches literature, history, theology, and philosophy in an integrated great books curriculum.
1:22.6	In Diana's book Bander Snatch, she uses her research on the inklings to explain what we can learn about
1:29.2	creativity, productivity, collaboration, and community. What I discovered in talking with Diana and
1:37.4	why I bring it back to you here today was that this group of authors didn't just meet to discuss
1:42.7	and refine their work. They were
1:44.9	intrinsically involved in each other's work and not only spurred each other on, but actually
1:51.0	sparred quite a bit with each other. Diana greatly dispels what she refers to as the myth of
1:57.3	the solitary genius. Well, the charge and the takeaway from this conversation,
2:01.8	I feel, is the opportunity and great benefit we can derive from really investing in each other's
2:08.5	pursuits. It's a structure I continue to grapple with, honestly, with how to create it, but I'm
	...

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