C S Lewis joins Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey
Belfast–born writer and scholar CS Lewis was officially inducted into Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey on Friday 22 November.
A memorial stone to The Chronicles of Narnia creator was unveiled to mark the 50th anniversary of his death – the first Belfast writer to receive such an honour.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams – an admirer of his work – gave the main address at the ceremony. A prayer was read by the Revd Adrian Dorrian, the rector of St Marks’ church, Dundela, in Belfast, where the writer’s grandfather was the first rector.
CS Lewis’s memorial stone is set in the floor of Poets’ Corner – though he was not known for poetry – and is inscribed with lines from one of his theological lectures : “I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen. Not only because I can see it but because by it I can see everything else.”
Lewis joins such greats as Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, John Keats, William Blake and TS Eliot in a tradition going back 600 years.
Image BBC News