Devin Brown, Ph.D.

Professor of English

Department: English

Office: Morrison 300A

Phone Extension: 2499

Biographical Information

Dr. Devin Brown is a Lilly Scholar and Professor of English at Asbury University where, in addition to other literature classes, he teaches a course on Lewis and Tolkien. He also teaches in the Asbury University Honors Program. He has a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina and a Master’s degree from the University of Florida.

He is an award-winning author and a frequent speaker at conferences and college campuses. He was born and grew up on Chicago’s south side and is a recipient of The Frances White Ewbank Award, Asbury’s highest honor for teaching.

Education

Ph.D., University of South Carolina
Master’s degree, University of Florida.

Courses Taught

Eng 205: Literature and Culture
Eng 230: Introduction to Literature
Eng 250: Writing for Teachers
Eng 265: Tolkien and Human Personhood (Honors Course)
Eng 331: Introduction to English Linguistics
Eng 353: Creative Writing for Young Readers
Eng 361: Adolescent Literature
Eng 423: C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien

Publications (Books)

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: Annotated for Teen and Middle Grade Readers (Edited by Devin Brown, Owl’s Nest Publishers, November 2023)
The Screwtape Letters – Study Guide, to accompany the play C. S. Lewis On Stage: The Screwtape Letters (FPA Productions 2023)
Not Exactly Love (Middle Grade Novel, Owl’s Nest Publishers, August 2023)
C. S. Lewis: Further Up & Further In – Study Guide, to accompany the play C. S. Lewis On Stage: Further Up & Further In (FPA Productions 2022)
C. S. Lewis: The Most Reluctant Convert – Study Guide, to accompany the play and film The Most Reluctant Convert (FPA Productions 2021)
C. S. Lewis and The Moral Argument (Warren Apologetics 2019)
Discussing Mere Christianity (Zondervan 2015)
Bringing Narnia Home: Lessons from the Other Side of the Wardrobe (Abingdon 2015)
Tolkien: How an Obscure Oxford Professor Wrote The Hobbit and Became the Most Beloved Author of the Century (Abingdon 2014). Winner: Christian Retailing’s Best Award 2015, Biography Division
A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C. S. Lewis (Brazos 2013). Foreword by Douglas Gresham. Korean Translation, 2016. Second Printing 2018. Used in Max McLean’s C. S. Lewis on Stage: The Most Reluctant Convert, Fellowship for Performing Arts. Reviews in Booklist, Publishers Weekly, The Christian Century, Touchstone, Anglican and Episcopal History, St. Austin Review, and The Englewood Review of Books. Foreword Magazine Finalist for Best Biography of 2013. AudioFile “Earphones Award Winner” for Audible version.
Hobbit Lessons: A Map for Life’s Unexpected Journeys (Abingdon 2013)
The Christian World of The Hobbit (Abingdon 2012). Slovenian Translation 2014, Greek Translation 2014. Winner of Christian Retailing’s Church And Culture Division Best Award 2013
Inside the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Baker 2010)
Inside Prince Caspian (Baker 2008)
Inside Narnia (Baker 2005). Second, Third, and Fourth Printing 2005. Fifth Printing 2006. Portuguese Translation 2006. Reviews in Christianity and Literature, Library Journal, and BookPage
Not Exactly Normal (Middle Grade Novel, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers 2005). Children’s Book Council Notable Social Studies Book 2006. Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year 2006

Publications (Documentary Scripts)

Discussing Mere Christianity (Zondervan 2015)
The Hound of Heaven: The Story of Francis Thompson (Oxvision Media 2014)
C. S. Lewis: Why He Matters Today (Asbury School of Communication Arts 2013)

In September 2022, Dr. Brown joined the team at Owl’s Nest Publishers. His first two books with Owl’s Nest are Not Exactly Love (a middle grade novel) and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: Annotated for Teen and Middle Grade Readers. In both January 2022 and January 2023, Dr. Brown was an invited guest on the BBC’s Birthday Celebration of J. R. R. Tolkien. In 2021, he was invited to write the Study Guide for the film as well as the stage version of C. S. Lewis: The Most Reluctant Convert starring Max McLean, produced by the Fellowship for Performing Arts. In 2022, he was asked to write the Study Guide for Further Up & Further In, the second play in FPA’s series C. S. Lewis on Stage. Recently he completed a third FPA Study Guide for The Screwtape Letters.

Dr. Brown wrote the Foreword for Narnian Virtues: Building Good Character with C.S. Lewis by Mark Pike and Thomas Lickona (Lutterworth Press 2021), the Foreword to Tolkien and the Arts edited by Melody Green (Square Halo Press 2021), and the Foreword to The Faun’s Bookshelf: C.S. Lewis on Why Myth Matters by Charlie W. Starr (Kent State University Press 2018). He has served as a content editor for books published by Kent State University Press, McFarland, Crossway, and Concordia.

In addition, Dr. Brown was a contributor to The C. S. Lewis Bible (HarperOne 2010) and The Screwtape Letters: The Annotated Edition (HarperOne 2013). He has published numerous articles and essays, including pieces for Christianity Today, Desiring God, The Chesterton Review, the Journal of Inkling Studies, Religion and Literature, and Christianity and Literature.

Recently his article “From Isolation to Community: Ransom’s Spiritual Odyssey” was selected for inclusion in Twentieth Century Literary Criticism on The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis, the latest volume in the well-known Twentieth Century Literary Criticism Series by Gale-Cengage. He has published original poetry in Connecticut Review, Wind, The Chaffin Review, South Carolina Review, Cold Mountain Review, The Cumberland Poetry Review, and the Journal of Kentucky Studies.

In 2008 Dr. Brown served as Scholar-in-Residence for the Summer Seminar held at The Kilns, the Oxford home of C. S. Lewis. He has written chapters or forewords for twelve books, including a chapter on The Screwtape Letters for the 4-volume series C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy (Praeger 2007), a chapter titled “Are The Chronicles of Narnia Sexist?” for Women and C. S. Lewis (Lion Hudson, 2015), and a chapter for the forthcoming book Protestantism on Screen to be released by Oxford University Press.

Dr. Brown has been a featured author for the The Indiana Book Festival, the Kentucky Reading Project, the Kentucky Book Fair, the Delaware Book Fair, the Ohio River Festival of Books, the Bluegrass Festival of Books, the Clarksville Writers’ Conference, the Southern Kentucky Book Fest, and the Kentucky Writing Project. He has been an invited speaker at the Ichthus Music Festival.

He has been a keynote or plenary speaker at Grove City College, Harding University, the University of Mary Washington, Villanova University, Aquinas College, Wheaton College, Calvin College, John Brown University, Asbury Theological Seminary, Huntington University, Grace College, St. Catherine College, Lincoln Christian University, the University of Kentucky Honors College, Montreat College, and Taylor University.

In 2011 Dr. Brown was a headliner at The C. S. Lewis Festival in Petoskey, Michigan. He has been a Convocation Speaker at Milligan College and Lexington Theological Seminary. In 2010 he was invited to appear on the Narnia Summit Panel with Michael Apted, Micheal Flaherty, and Douglas Gresham in the Zanuck Theater at the 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles.

His novel for young people Not Exactly Normal was named a Children’s Book Council Notable Social Studies Book and has been listed on Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year. He is frequently invited to appear as guest author at middle schools which have used Not Exactly Normal in their classrooms. He is listed in Contemporary Authors and in Book Letters. He has recently published Not Exactly Love which is a follow up novel to Not Exactly Normal.

Dr. Brown has presented scholarly papers on Lewis and Tolkien at many venues including Oxford, London, the University of Wroclaw (Poland), Belmont University, the University of Louisville, and the University of Surrey (England). He has served as Visiting Writer-in-Residence at Transylvania University. Dr. Brown has been a judge for Christianity Today’s Book of the Year Award. He has served as a Consulting Editor for Irish Studies Review as well as for Crossway and Concordia.

In winter of 2007, Dr. Brown was part of the Asbury University team that produced the Educational Resources DVD to accompany the film Amazing Grace, which told the story of the campaign to abolish the slave trade in England. In 2013 he was again part of an Asbury University documentary team–this time helping to produce the video C. S. Lewis: Why He Matters Today.

Dr. Brown wrote the script for The Hound of Heaven: The Story of Francis Thompson released by Oxvision Media in 2014. In 2015 he was asked to write Zondervan’s 8-part video Discussing Mere Christianity which was filmed on location in Oxford and features Eric Metaxas as host. He and his wife, Sharon, live in Lexington, Kentucky.