PWJ: S4E43 – AH – “After Hours” with Carolyn Curtis

Carolyn Curtis, co-editor of “Women and C.S. Lewis”, came on the show to discuss her book which was recently rereleased as an audiobook. In this work she gathers together a large number of C.S. Lewis writers to examine C.S. Lewis’ life and literature in order to understand his relationship with women and respond to those who would charge Lewis with sexism.

S4E43: “After Hours” with Carolyn Curtis (Download)

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Timestamps

00:00 – Entering “The Eagle & Child”…
00:11 – Welcome
00:40 – Carolyn Curtis
01:29 – Quote-of-the-week
01:58 – Drink-of-the-week
02:54 – Patreon Toast
03:26 – Discussion: Discovering Lewis
05:00 – Discussion: A life in journalism
10:01 – Discussion: Women and C.S. Lewis Audiobook
12:52 – Discussion: C.S. Lewis, The Sexist?
15:55 – Discussion: Writers in their own voices
19:04 – Discussion: Contributors
19:56 – Discussion: Lazo Romance
23:18 – Discussion: Target Audience
26:44 – Discussion: Book Overview
37:21 – Discussion: Co-editing and Coordinating
38:34 – Discussion: The bottom line
39:36 – “Last Call” Bell and Closing Thoughts

YouTube Version

After Show Skype Session

No Skype Session today!

Show Notes

Biographical Information

Carolyn Curtis holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Arts degree in communication from Stephen F. Austin State University. She has taught journalism at a college and been a speaker at numerous conferences. She has reported from daily newsrooms and from Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. She has worked in communications management for Fortune 50 companies and at domestic corporate headquarters for two major church denominations. Carolyn is the author or collaborator of seven books and today she’s here to talk to us about a book she co-edited called, Women and C.S. Lewis: What His Life and Literature Reveal for Today’s Culture.

Biographical information for Carolyn Curtis

Quote-of-the-week

For the quote-of-the-week, I thought I’d share the Epitaph which C.S. Lewis wrote for his wife, Joy:

Here the whole world (stars, water, air,
And field, and forest, as they were
Reflected in a single mind)
Like cast off clothes was left behind
In ashes, yet with hopes that she,
Re-born from holy poverty,
In lenten lands, hereafter may
Resume them on her Easter Day.

C.S. Lewis, Epitaph for his wife Joy Davidman

Drink-of-the-week

• The next thing is our drink-of-the-week. Today I’m getting back to my Yorkshire roots with a nice pot of Yorkshire Gold. Carolyn was drinking a cup of PG Tips and glass of water.

Patreon Toast

• We don’t have a new Gold-level Patreon supporter to toast today, so I’d instead like to offer a toast to all of the thirty or so writers who contributed to this book:

Thank you for your words by which you’ve helped us come to know Jack better. May you always continue to shine a light where it’s needed…

Patreon Toast for the contributing writers to “Women and C.S. Lewis”

Discussion

Biography

• Carolyn began by talking about how she first came across Lewis.
• She also shared about her career as a journalist, particularly on Capitol Hill. Her book, What We Know About Acid Rain put her in Sports Illustrated and put her on the map on the Hill in DC.

Women and C.S. Lewis

• I explained how I first came across the book and met Carolyn’s co-editor Mary Pomroy Key and how I recently saw that the audiobook had been released.
• I commented that I had listened to podcasts recently which threw around words like “sexist” and “misogynist” in relation to Lewis rather liberally and that the timing of the audio book was very serendipitous in that regard. I asked Carolyn about what prompted the writing of her book and she said that it was from hearing similar criticisms of Lewis.
• Carolyn explained why she wanted for the contributors to speak in their own voice, rather than interviewing them and simply quoting extracts.
• We spoke about some of the contributors to the book, including our own co-host, Andrew Lazo and his soon-to-be wife, Kristen. Carolyn shared some of the story of their “meet cute”. Here is the engagement picture she referred to:

• I invited Carolyn to talk through the book from a high-level:
  • Section 1: The man
  • Section 2: Fiction author
  • Section 3: Poet
  • Section 4: Influencer
  • Section 5: Mentor
• We discussed the target audience for this book.
• Carolyn explained what was involved in co-editing a book like “Women and C.S. Lewis”.

More Information

• For more information, check out Carolyn’s website and read about Carolyn and her story.
• The book is available on Amazon.
• The audiobook is available both at ChristianBook.com and Audible.