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This is the first full biography of Charles Williams (1886-1945) , an extraordinary and controversial figure who was a central member of the Inklings--the group of Oxford writers that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Charles Williams--novelist, poet, theologian, magician and guru--was the strangest, most multi-talented, and most controversial member of the group. He was a pioneering fantasy writer, who still has a cult following. C.S. Lewis thought his poems on King Arthur and the Holy Grail were among the best poetry of the twentieth century for "the soaring and gorgeous novelty of their technique, and their profound wisdom." But Williams was full of contradictions. An influential theologian, Williams was also deeply involved in the occult, experimenting extensively with magic, practicing erotically-tinged rituals, and acquiring a following of devoted disciples.



About the Author

Grevel Lindop

Grevel Lindop (www.grevel.co.uk) is an award-winning British poet, critic, travel writer and biographer. After a successful academic career, he became a freelance writer in 2001. A keen salsa dancer,he reached BBC Radio 4's 'Book of the Week' slot in 2008 with Travels on the Dance Floor, in which he explored Latin America in pursuit of music and dance, meeting a host of extraordinary characters on the way. The book was one of six shortlisted that year for Authors' Club Best Travel Book.

The Opium-Eater: A Life of Thomas De Quincey, his classic biography of the Romantic essayist and adventurer who invented drug literature, has recently been fully revised and is now available as an e-book.

His highly-praised Selected Poems appeared in 2001 and a new collection, Playing With Fire, in 2006. Described variously as 'beautiful', 'edgy', and 'obsessive', the vivid, erotic and groundbreaking poems of Playing With Fire led the book to sell out of its first printing, and it is now available both as an e-book and in print-on-demand. He has been with Carcanet Press since its inception and is a loyal and enthusiastic Carcanet author.

His Literary Guide to the Lake District won the Lakeland Book of the Year Award on publication, and he has won the Poetry London Prize and the Stafford Poetry Prize. In 2012 he had three poems long-listed in the National Poetry Competition (though none of them won!) and he currently has two projects approaching completion: (1) he is completing a biography of the 1940s poet, novelist, theologian and occultist Charles Williasm (1886-1945) . The manuscript will go to OUP early in 2014. (2) He is working on a new collection of poems, Luna Park, for publication in the near future. You can read his blog at www.grevel.co.uk



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