Interview with Kat Coffin about the Problem of Susan (Ep 8 of the Lion, the Witch & the Evangelicals)
Kat Coffin is a musician and an academic specializing in the works of C.S. Lewis and gender theory.
Before you listen to the podcast, maybe check out this wonderful summary Kat Coffin wrote on The Problem of Susan here.
Or read this quick Twitter thread summary
JK Rowling on Susan Pevensie and Lewis: “There comes a point where Susan, who was the older girl, is lost to Narnia because she becomes interested in lipstick. She’s become irreligious basically because she found sex. I have a big problem with that.”
Neil Gaiman wrote a short story called The Problem of Susan (which we do not necessarily recommend reading as it is . . . intense.)
C.S. Lewis was a lot like Susan!
Lewis eventually became friends with Dorothy L Sayers and then befriended and married Joy Davidman. An American communist from Brooklyn!
Till We Have Faces--Lewis’ last novel, which was basically co-written with Joy Davidman
A Grief Observed--Lewis’ book on his marriage
“CS Lewis is not as evangelical as evangelicals want him to be but he’s not as progressive as I want him to be.” -- Kat Coffin
George MacDonald, one of Lewis’ main literary mentors, was a universalist. Krispin mentions The Evangelical Universalist, by Robin Parry, which was originally published under the pen name Gregory MacDonald, as a nod to George MacDonald.
Shadowlands is the film about Lewis’ life and marriage to Joy. As Kat Coffin points out, there are elements of it that have been edited to fit the intended audience, so keep that in mind!
Find Kat on Twitter Instagram Blog
She is a part-time serious academic and full-time writer/musician, currently residing in St. Louis, Missouri. Her academic field specializes in the works of C.S. Lewis and gender theory. She completed her second fantasy novel last year and it is being shopped between publishers. When she's not writing dry twenty-page essays on the evolution of C.S. Lewis' female characters or writing stories about the horrifying and hilarious ramifications of demon summoning, she enjoys long car rides, playing guitar, a good stout, and tearing her hair out over politics. She has written a one act play about Susan Pevensie which she hopes fo stage in the near future. Her fantasy novel, “Hell’s Heresies”, is currently being shopped between publishers and she is in the process of researching for a nonfiction book that deals with C.S. Lewis, his female characters, and gender theory.
