Will Vaus

I am in the midst of scheduling The Professor of Narnia Book Tour for this Fall and early 2009. The following locations are already on the schedule: Chattanooga, Tennessee Scottsdale, Arizona Harrisonburg, Virginia Frederick, Maryland Monterey, Virginia Indianapolis, Indiana New York City, New York If you or your group would like to host a book signing and talk you may e-mail me to discuss what is involved and to get a place on the schedule ( will@willvaus.com ). To learn more about the book please visit my other blog: http://narniaprof.blogspot.com .

Available in its first reprint since 1965, The Personal Heresy: A Controversy originally published in 1939, comprises the exchange of essays between C. S. Lewis and E. M. W. Tillyard in which the literary critics argue opposing positions on what can or should be gained from the reading of poetry. Bruce Edwards sees in this work a consistent Lewisian theme, “championing as it does the cogency of the doctrine of objective value” (“The Personal Heresy: A Controversy,” in The C. S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia , pp. 318f.). Lewis responds to Tillyard’s assertion in his 1930 publication Milton that “[a]ll poetry is about the poet’s state of mind.” Lewis argues that in poetry we see what the poet sees, not the poet himself. Lewis writes, “When we read poetry as poetry should be read, we have before us no representation which claims to be the poet, and frequently no representation of a man, a character, or a personality at all.” To order your copy, with an Introduction by Dr. Bruce L. Edw

There was an interesting review in the Telegraph today of Print for Victory by Valerie Holman. The review opens by saying: "The book trade's current convulsions pale beside those of the years between 1939 and 1945, when stock vanished overnight - either from bombs or public demand. Many read for 12 hours a week . . ." Can you imagine people in the USA today reading for twelve hours per week as the British did during WWII? This article paints an intriguing portrait of the time period and the place in which C. S. Lewis rose to prominence as an author. You may read the rest of the story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/08/23/bohol123.xml

My new book, coming this Fall from Believe Books, now has a newly designed cover. Click here to see it: http://narniaprof.blogspot.com .

Mr. James O'Fee of Northern Ireland has had some interesting blogs on C. S. Lewis lately, including one featuring Yours Truly. http://www.impalapublications.com/blog/index.php?/authors/5-James-OFee Be sure to scroll down to see all the Lewis related blogs going back to Sunday, August 17.

I am now a contributor to the HarperCollins C. S. Lewis Blog. To read my first contribution click here: http://booksbycslewis.blogspot.com/2008/08/lewis-and-stonehenge.html .

Walter Hooper has written a wonderful Foreword to my new book: The Professor of Narnia: The C. S. Lewis Story. To read the Foreword click here: http://narniaprof.blogspot.com .

Pauline Baynes, illustrator of the seven Chronicles of Narnia, died on Friday, August 1, 2008. To read a truly wonderful tribute to her life and work click here: http://briansibleysblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/pauline-baynes-queen-of-narnia-middle.html