Lea Carson

On the regular occasion that Northern Irish folk list off the small collection of celebrities from their homeland, they will usually include the familiar names of Liam Neeson, Rory McIlroy, and perhaps even Jamie Dornan. But one name is often forgotten– C.S. Lewis.

“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.”

This thought-provoking quote is just one of many, expertly coined by the man who was born and raised in East Belfast. Lewis is one of the world’s greatest authors and also, one of Northern Ireland’s greatest homegrown heroes.

You would be hard-pressed to find someone from our generation who has not at least heard of Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. For many people, the books, and later films, have been formative influences on their childhoods, and still resonate strongly with them today. The Narnia films always give that childhood warmth feeling every time you watch them. Students at Queen’s University Belfast can be reminded of Lewis every time they reach the first floor of the McClay Library, where the C.S. Lewis Reading Room serves as a calming, but highly sought after, study space.

As well as Lewis’s mainstream success with the Chronicles of Narnia, his life was filled with many other exploits and achievements. He was born in East Belfast in 1898 where he spent his childhood years. He later moved across the water to England in 1908, where he would eventually study at Oxford University and meet fellow legendary author– J.R.R. Tolkien. Lewis went on to write over 30 books, including many on the Christian faith, such as Mere Christianity. Lewis’ challenging life, and journey to faith is one that has inspired many to explore Christianity today.

In recent years, the legacy of C.S. Lewis has become more visible to the Northern Irish public with the opening of the quirky C.S. Lewis Square on the Newtownards Road. The square officially opened in East Belfast in 2016. This invitingly open space is a poignant tribute to Lewis and his work with odes to Lewis’ world of Narnia dotted around the square.

Although the square was only opened in 2016, Lewis’s legacy has been celebrated in Belfast for a lot longer. One great example of this celebration is the C.S. Lewis Festival. The festival recently ran from the November 18-22, with a plethora of events and experiences organised to celebrate Lewis’s life. I had the opportunity to chat with Heather from the EastSide Partnership, which is the main organisation behind the C.S. Lewis Festival. From speaking to Heather, it’s clear to see the passion that goes into the organising of this important festival. When discussing the history of the festival and how it began, Heather says:

“Back in 2013 we recognised the need for the 50th anniversary of C.S. Lewis’ death to be marked in Belfast, his birthplace, and so EastSide Partnership, with support from Belfast City Council and various sponsors, organised the inaugural C.S. Lewis Festival in east Belfast. We are delighted that we have been able to continue to celebrate east Belfast born Lewis every year since and in November 2021 we held the 9th C.S. Lewis Festival.”

As everyone knows too well, Covid-19 has impacted or halted the majority of events and festivals planned for 2021. But as Heather shares, the festival were fortunate to be able to hold many in-person events this year:

“In order to deliver the festival this year we worked within the government guidelines and with local venues to ensure our events were safe for both participants and audiences. This entailed having additional covid-19 risk assessments in place and limiting the number of people who could attend events. We were delighted to be able to hold talks, tours and music events in-person, in local venues and outdoors, which was really lovely given that most of our events in 2020 were delivered online.”

Having had such a positive experience at the 2021 festival, Heather says that the EastSide Partnership hope to continue the festival for many years:

“We hope to continue to celebrate renowned author, theologian and academic C.S. Lewis with an annual C.S. Lewis Festival. We hope to inspire others to explore their creativity and to promote Lewis as a famous and inspiring son of Belfast to both locals and visitors alike.”

Perhaps after this article you’re feeling inspired to celebrate Lewis’ legacy or to get involved with the local EastSide Partnership? Heather has offered some tips for how students can get involved:

“We have a great team of volunteers at EastSide Partnership, and we are always delighted to welcome more people to join us and help us deliver our regeneration work in east Belfast, so that is something that local students could definitely get involved with in the future. More details are available on our website.”

This is an exciting opportunity for QUB students to get involved in in the future.

Thanks to Heather from the EastSide Partnership for contributing to this article.

Lea Carson is an undergraduate International Studies and Politics student at Queen's University Belfast.

C.S. Lewis Festival– a tribute to one of Northern Ireland’s greatest homegrown heroes