Article: "An Unexpected Poet: The Creative Works of Dr. Robert E. Havard"

In 2019 I was delighted to participate in Mythcon and receive the Alexei Kondratiev Award for my paper, “An Unexpected Poet: The Creative Works of Dr. Robert E. Havard”. This paper appeared in volume 38 of Mythlore and can be found here.

From the abstract:

Despite the incredible wealth of Inklings scholarship, little critical attention has been paid to the lesser-known members of the circle, including physician and writer Robert E. Havard (1901—1985). Dr. Havard has been noted as a “skilled and prolific writer” (Glyer 12) who was “well-read and keenly interested in the processes of literature and in theology” (Sayer 151). Yet, Inklings scholarship has long been limited to his appendix to Lewis’s The Problem of Pain and several memoirs on fellow Inklings. When asked regarding his own writing during a 1984 interview with Lyle W. Dorsett, Havard remarked that “I have never written anything very much…I’ve never been a writer in the ways the others were” (Oral History). Although Havard is recognized to have co-authored a wide variety of biomedical research articles, this estimation of his own creative and academic output has long been taken for granted.

In reviewing Dr. Havard’s published and unpublished writings, my ongoing research has revealed a far more striking portrait of this (previously) un-studied “medical Inkling.” While Dr. Havard’s writings touch on a diverse array of genres, his poetry remains of particular interest: currently, over thirty completed poems have been identified, several of which were published during his lifetime. Study of these poetic works not only illuminates the contours of Dr. Havard’s own life experiences, but also invites deeper consideration of his role within the Inklings.

Accordingly, this paper will trace recurring themes and elements in Dr. Havard’s poetry, as well as explore the poetic relationships between R. E. Havard and Lewis, among others. In The Company They Keep, Diana Glyer identifies referential writings as evidence of “strong mutual influence” (189), even noting literary references as “a form of influence in its purest sense” (167). Reflecting such impact, Havard is honored in several of Lewis’s poems, including “The Admiral Stamped on the Quarter Deck” and “Five Sonnets.” These referents, coupled with new evidence that Lewis both read and provided written feedback on Havard’s own poetry, enriches understanding not only of Havard as a writer, but of his role within the Inklings. Notably, Havard’s poetic collaborations extended beyond the group, including figures such as artist and sculptor Rosamund Fletcher. By identifying such connections and collaborations, this paper—as part of a larger book project on Robert E. Havard—highlights the importance of renewed scholarly interest in the “lesser-known” members of the Inklings, as well as invites broader consideration of patterns of influence within the group.

Article: "The (Revised) Clinical Imagination: An Unpublished Appendix to 'The Problem of Pain'"

My original research article, “The (Revised) Clinical Imagination: An Unpublished Appendix to The Problem of Pain” appeared in volume 36 (2019) of VII: Journal of the Marion E. Wade Center. The full text of the paper can be found here.

From the abstract: “Robert Havard was a medical doctor and a little-known Inkling who, at Lewis’s invitation, wrote an appendix to The Problem of Pain. Lewis revised the resulting document extensively before publication. An examination of the unpublished version provides both a window into the workings of the Inklings, and insight into the humility and complexity of Havard's medical practice. This is particularly evident in Havard’s discussion of mental illness: in contrast to the brief and almost flippant tone of the published version, the first draft paints a poignant picture of mental suffering and confesses the limits of the clinician’s knowledge. Sarah O’Dell speculates on the reasons for the far-reaching revisions, exploring the place of mental pain in Lewis’s theodicy, Lewis’s own experience as a caretaker for a man going mad, and instances of madness in Lewis’s fiction.”

My paper was accompanied by a reproduction of R.E. Havard’s unpublished draft, further illuminating the differences between Lewis’s “Appendix” and Havard’s original "Pain and Behaviour in Medical Practice."

Article: "Robert E. Havard: The Medical Inkling"

"Many are familiar with the Inklings, the Oxford writing group who met throughout the 1930s and 1940s and whose members included C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield, and Charles Williams. The group’s shared interest in mythopoetic literature and Christian thought has attracted a wide variety of scholars, with many academic journals dedicated to the group or its respective members. Nonetheless, a large number of Inklings remain woefully under-studied, including Robert E.Havard, a Catholic physician, scholar, and poet ..."

Last year, I was invited to write a short piece on Robert Havard for Catholic Medical Quarterly, as part of their “Great Medical Lives” series. I was so excited to reference a review that Dr. Havard had published in this very same journal over sixty years ago! His theological reflections on mental illness are especially worth a read: