"Before Narnia ever existed, C.S. Lewis had a secret weapon: a band of Oxford friends who argued, challenged, and inspired him—the Inklings."Think C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia all by himself? Think again. Lewis was part ...

=Eugene O'Neill's development as a playwright was deeply rooted in his turbulent personal life and a deliberate rejection of the popular theater of his time. He evolved from a young man adrift to become a revolutionary force in American dram...

The subject of today's podcast, Oscar Wilde is extremely important because of his efforts in making wit an art form. His plays — such as The Importance of Being Earnest — are still laugh-out-loud funny more than a century later, which almost...

Leo Tolstoy is Russia’s other literary giant — a master of epic storytelling, moral inquiry, and psychological insight. His genius lies in observing the human soul with relentless curiosity, asking the questions every creative mind wrestles ...

In the previous episode, we walked with Walt Whitman down the open roads of America, hearing the chorus of ordinary lives. Now we cross continents and step into the narrow corridors of the human soul with Fedor Dostoevsky—where freedom and c...

Walt Whitman’s writing helped to capture and define the spirit of the growing United States during the challenging 1800s. He had a bold and unusual way of writing that created a new artistic style for America. Whitman's importance comes from...

Within the past few days, this podcast has dealt with Victor Hugo, Jonathan Swift, and Edgar Allan Poe - all these individuals were giants who challenged the status quo, but in vastly different ways. Today I would like to add Henry David Tho...

First you might ask - why should I read Victor Hugo.  Well I'm glad you asked.  You see, Reading Victor Hugo is an immersive and profound experience.  But before we deal into Les Miserables, I want to say a little bit about hi...

I can't believe it, but we are halfway through the list of writers.   I have at least 13 of the 25 writers on the list finished - and today is Charles Dickens.Now, Charles Dickens was a brilliant storyteller, a powerful voice fo...

Imagine this: William Wordsworth, in the early 1800s, walking the hills of England’s Lake District. He stops to watch a field of daffodils swaying in the breeze, and suddenly, the moment becomes eternal. For Wordsworth, nature is not just scene...

What if I told you one of the most famous writers in history calmly suggested… eating babies?Here's the situation: You’re sitting down with a brand-new pamphlet in Dublin, 1729. The author, Jonathan Swift, is proposing a solution to ...

Now, Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe, was a prolific and multi-talented English writer, journalist, and spy, whose life was as adventurous as his most famous characters. Born Daniel Foe around 1660 in London to a family of Dissen...

"Darkness visible — a phrase that captures the paradox of John Milton’s life: eventual blindness in body, yet vision without bounds in the mind.”"Imagine a world gone dark — yet in that darkness, a man named John Milton could see mor...

Well here no I don't wanna do this I don't wanna do this because when I start doing stuff like this screw up so I'm just showing you I've got a belt a few hundred more to hit how are your running since you changed your topic much much higher...

Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 458 - The Greatest of Them All, Part Two“In Episode 1, we followed Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon to the bustling streets and theatres of London, watching him experiment with history, t...

 The Greatest of Them All - Part 1Now when I first decided to have a series of podcast episodes dealing with what I believe are the 25 most influential writers, it seemed easiest and most effective to have one episode for ...

Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Chaucer -Not Just PaperworkBefore Shakespeare, before Austen…even before Milton, there was Jeffrey Chaucer. Boldly writing in English when most of the literary world preferred Latin or French. Imagin...

Today I'd like to talk about a unique individual from the New Testament first known as Saul, and after his conversion, was known as PaulBased on what we know, Paul’s voice and style can best be described as urgent, argumentative, and...

“Hello, friends, and welcome to Celebrate Creativity! My name is George Bartley, and today we turn to one of the most influential writers of the ancient world — David, the poet-king.David is certainly famous as a king of Israel, but,...

“Hello, friends, and welcome to Celebrate Creativity! My name is George Bartley, and today we begin an extraordinary journey into one of the most influential storytellers in human history — Moses.Most listeners know the creation stor...

Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - My name is George Bartley, and this is Episode 451 - only 49 more episodes to go until this podcast reaches 500 - anyway,What you're hearing is not a full length episode - I'm close to going over my ...

Welcome to Celebrate Creativity- Episode 450 - Poe’s Words of HopeWhen you hear the name of the 19th century writer, Edgar Allan Poe, what comes to mind?  Perhaps you picture a somber, extremely unhappy man scribbling tale...

The final individual in this podcast miniseries about great literary figures who had a form of epilepsy deals with Truman Capote, and while he is listed among famous writers who had epilepsy, there's no indication that he depicted characters...

Welcome to Celebrate Creativity -  Episode 447 - What the Dickens!Today I want to look at Charles Dickens - and no I could not find any reliable information that said Charles Dickens suffered from epilepsy, but his connection to...