Staff and Contributors

 

LuminousSpecter

Founder / Owner of NarniaFans.com and All Narnia Fans Accounts

LuminousSpecter built NarniaFans in 2003 after discovering that Walden Media was going to go into production on The Chronicles of Narnia. At the time, there was no Narnia fansite that covered them, and he launched the site that year, with no competition for the space.

His first exposure to the Chronicles of Narnia was as a child, when we borrowed the animated version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe from the local library. After watching that several times, he watched the BBC version on PBS (which had a Wonderworks logo at the start). Because HarperCollins had re-numbered the books, at that time libraries (and I think book stores as well still had both numbered editions), he was confused as to which book was actually which number, because ALL of the books except for The Last Battle had a different number, so it took him years before he read them, because he didn’t know which was right. (Thanks, HarperCollins leadership of that era… he’s sure you had the best of intentions.)

Because the animated version of LWW was the first version of the story he knew, it was a very streamlined version of the story, and the BBC version felt like they had added so much to the story. And they had that version spread out over several days on PBS, so favorite scenes felt like it took a long time to get to. And the costumed animals scared him (he was very young when they aired). That said, he credits these versions with preparing him early on to understand that film versions of any book are going to be different, and that can be okay. And the same is true here of the difference between animation and live-action. And the fact that Aslan gave the children their gifts in the animated one, rather than Father Christmas, didn’t even phase him… but he was surprised that it was Father Christmas.

LuminousSpecter can also be found playing Ghostbusters video games.

Current Contributors

(listed alphabetically)

Arvin Jan Pevensie

Bio coming soon

C.L. MarenwoodC.L. Marenwood

C.L. Marenwood is a writer drawn to the long ways round and the hushed places off the map of The Chronicles of Narnia. Her prose lingers where meaning gathers rather than declares itself, attentive to the quiet convergence of faith, imagination, and an ache for something just beyond reach.

She does not read Narnia as a riddle demanding resolution, but as a living country; one returned to across the turning of years, each visit altered by time, memory, and loss. Marenwood holds that Lewis’s most enduring truths are those left deliberately unspoken, and that the most faithful doors are not flung wide, but left gently ajar, inviting rather than insisting.

[Editor’s Note: This is a pen name. The actual contributor has chosen to remain anonymous.]

John Di Bartolo

Writer / Music / Video

John Di Bartolo is a longtime creative force in the worlds of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien fandom. As a musician, speaker, and storyteller, he has spent years celebrating the imagination and faith of both authors—bringing their timeless themes to life through song, art, and lectures at gatherings across the United States and abroad.

John’s work bridges the beauty of myth and music, inviting audiences to rediscover wonder through the sub-creative lens that Lewis and Tolkien cherished. His Lewis-inspired song, Old Enough for Faerie Tales, can be heard on Spotify.

In May 2025, John was a featured speaker and performer at the first U.K. Tolkien Society conference held in the United States—Westmoot—hosted at the National WWI Museum & Memorial in Kansas City. His presentation and song performance captured the enduring power of myth and music to connect generations of readers and dreamers. A photo from the event can be viewed here on Facebook.

Through his creative projects and collaborations, John continues to inspire audiences “further up and further in,” celebrating the shared legacy of Lewis and Tolkien for a new generation of fans.

Jonathon Svendsen

Writer / Interviews

Jonathon Svendsen is NarniaFans resident book critic, designated opinion Marshwiggle, and occasional prankster. He’s been a fan of CS Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia stories since he was about ten years old and his mother took him on his first trip through the beloved series and he stayed up late discussing the symbolism with her. Now a freelance writer, and independent scholar, he trained, studied and majored in the literary arts at the very Narnia-Esque campus of Bethel University in Minnesota. To date, he is not only known for guest speaking at colleges on contemporary mythology, his own personal blog, JonathonDSvendsen.wordpress.com, has seen him write over a dozen essay anthologies analyzing the characters from some of his favorite stories, including The Chronicles of Narnia.

Want him to review your book? Drop him a line! However, he will tell you right now he will not review your SusPian shipper fic on Fanfiction.net, or your self-published pro-Jadis novella re-imagining the Narnian stories in the style of Wicked. Just putting that out there now.

Notable Articles:

William O’Flaherty

more to come… possibly you?

Former Contributors