Diana Pavlac Glyer (born 21 January 1956 in

Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States Census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimor ...

) is an American author, speaker and teacher whose work centers on

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

and the

Inklings The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who pr ...

. She teaches in the Honors College at Azusa Pacific University in California.

Education

Glyer received a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in education and a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in English and fine arts from

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

. She received her

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in education from

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

and her PhD in English from the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois ...

. Glyer also did coursework in composition studies at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

and the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

, where she studied under Robert J. Connors and Donald Murray.

Career

Glyer has published widely, including contributions to dozens of books and periodicals. Her best-known work is '' The Company They Keep'', which describes the interaction and creative influence of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings. It has an appendix by the scholar David Bratman. Published in 2007, the book overturned assumptions held for more than 30 years.Review
Andrew Lazo in ''

Mythlore ''Mythlore'' is a biannual (originally quarterly) peer-reviewed academic journal founded by Glen GoodKnight and published by the Mythopoeic Society. Although it publishes articles that explore the genres of myth and fantasy in general, special a ...

'' 99/100, volume 26, issue 1/2, 2007 fall/winter It was recognized as a landmark study. ''The Company They Keep'' won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award (Inklings Studies) and was a finalist for the 2008

Hugo Award for Best Related Work The Hugo Award for Best Related Work is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for primarily non-fiction works related to science fiction or fantasy, published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The Hugo Awards have be ...

at Denvention 3, the

66th World Science Fiction Convention The 66th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Denvention 3, was held on 6–10 August 2008 at the Colorado Convention Center and the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel in Denver, Colorado, United States. The organizing committ ...

. Glyer is also the author of ''Clay in the Potter's Hands'' (2011) and ''Bandersnatch: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings'' (2016). ''Bandersnatch,'' published in 2016, applies the scholarly work of ''The Company They Keep'' to creative writing groups, encouraging them to function collaboratively just as the Inklings did.

Awards

''The Company They Keep'' won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award (Inklings Studies), the APU Scholarly Achievement Award (2008) and the Imperishable Flame Award for Tolkien Studies. It was a finalist for the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Related Work at Denvention 3, the 66th World Science Fiction Convention. For her work, Glyer has received many awards, including the Marion E. Wade Center's Clyde S. Kilby Research Grant (1997), Azusa Pacific University's Chase Sawtell Inspirational Teaching Award (2002), APU's Scholarly Achievement Award (2008) and APU's Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award (2014). She was the Scholar Guest of Honor for the 40th Annual Mythopoeic Conference, UCLA 2009. In 2019, Glyer was awarded the Paul F. Ford Award for Excellence in C.S. Lewis Scholarship.

Science fiction activity

Glyer has been active in

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

since 1973 and has worked on dozens of conventions. In 1985, she chaired Mythcon XVI at Wheaton College in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

. In 1998, she chaired Mythcon XXIX, the C.S. Lewis Centenary Celebration at Wheaton College.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Glyer, Diana Pavlac 1956 births Living people American speculative fiction critics American literary critics American women literary critics Bowling Green State University alumni Northern Illinois University alumni University of Illinois Chicago alumni Azusa Pacific University faculty Tolkien studies American Anglicans People from Aberdeen, Maryland Christians from Ohio