Take up the tale! Register now for my online Galahad and the Grail community book group
Come with me as a fan and scholar of the Arthurian mythos to dive into Galahad and the Grail, the first volume of Malcolm Guite's epic new poetic retelling Merlin's Isle
Easter greetings to you all! As a reader and sometime scholar of Arthurian literature, I’m thrilled that Galahad and the Grail, book one of Merlin’s Isle, Malcolm Guite’s epic poetic retelling of the “matter of Britain”, is now published, available from Canterbury Press in the UK and Rabbit Room Press in the USA, wonderfully illustrated by Stephen Crotts.
I invite you to join me in an online book group to discuss it over 3 weeks, to come together and chat it through, whether you are new to the story of Arthur or deeply immersed in the tradition.
Sessions will take place Mondays 8pm BST / 4pm EDT / 3pm CDT / 1pm PDT:
Week 1 — Monday 13th April: Prelude / Book One: The Coming of Galahad
Week 2 — Monday 20th April: Book Two: Adventures of the Quest
Week 3 — Monday 27th April: Book Three: The Achievement of the Grail / Epilogue
Note this is purely a fan/community book group, not associated with or endorsed by Hutchmoot, Rabbit Room, Canterbury Press or Malcolm Guite (though I hope they will be glad that this kind of community-led discussion is happening!)
Why join this group?
Fun and informal fan discussion
Dig deeper into the spiritual and philosophical themes of the poem
Insights from me as your resident student of the Arthurian tradition – I studied it and wrote about it for my English Literature MA so I know my way around it (though not quite as intimately as Malcolm Guite!)
What will the format be?
The sessions will be 90 minutes long and will include:
Reading selections from the book
A short introduction from myself putting it in the context of the Arthurian tradition and introducing some themes and questions
Open time for facilitated discussion
You will be welcome to join in and share your perspective. I’ll seek to gently shepherd the discussion to give everyone who wants to speak a fair chance to participate. If you just want to listen in without talking, that’s welcome too!
Who is the group for?
The book group is open to all — whether you are subscribed to my newsletter or not, whether you are in the UK or elsewhere, consider yourself creative or not, whether you have a faith perspective or different outlook — if you are interested in the book, you are very welcome!
What else I’ve been up to
I recently made another appearance on the Premier Unbelievable podcast to debate morality with an Objectivist (follower of Ayn Rand’s philosophy).
Now Objectivism is pretty philosophically unfashionable in many quarters and I think it’s got big issues – but any set of ideas that a significant number of people believe in is worth engaging, and the contrast between the Objectivist ethic of rational self-interest and Christian ethic of self-giving love makes for an illuminating foil.
I hope to share more thoughts and reflections on the debate in a subsequent post, and particularly how Ayn Rand’s novels offer an imaginative vision of her philosophy that is a key part of her continuing influence. But for now you can check out the debate here: