Holly Ordway, PhD

• PhD, English, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• MA, Christian Apologetics, Biola University
• MA, English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• BA, English, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Apologetics Research and Writing
• Ancient Culture and Philosophy
• Medieval Culture and Philosophy
• Modern and Post-Modern Culture
• Creative Writing and Apologetics
• Advanced Apologetics Writing/ Thesis

Dr Ordway’s teaching and research centers on cultural and imaginative apologetics, with a particular emphasis on literary apologetics and the work of the Inklings, especially J.R.R. Tolkien.

Publications

Books:

Apologetics and the Christian Imagination: An Integrated Approach to Defending the Faith. Emmaus Road Publishing, 2017.

Not God’s Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms. Revised 2nd edition. Ignatius Press, 2014.

Selected chapters in books:

“Medieval Arthurian Sources for the Inklings: An Overview.” In The Inklings and King Arthur: J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on the Matter of Britain. Ed. Sorina Higgins. Apocryphile Press, 2018.

“Looking ‘Along’ the Problem of Evil: Shakespeare’s Macbeth.” In Evil and a Selection of its Theological Problems. Ed. Benjamin Arbour and John R. Gilhooly. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017.

“Stonecrop: Lewis Takes His Place in Poets’ Corner.” In C.S. Lewis at Poets’ Corner. Ed. Michael Ward and Peter S. Williams. Cascade, 2016.

“Come and See: The Value of Storytelling for Apologetics.” In A New Kind of Apologist. Ed. Sean McDowell. Harvest House, 2016.

“C.S. Lewis on Love and Sex.” In C.S. Lewis and Women. Ed. Carolyn Curtis and Mary Key. Lion Hudson, 2015.

“Williams, Descent into Hell.” In C.S. Lewis’s List: The Ten Books that Influenced Him Most. Ed. David Werther. Bloomsbury Academic, 2015.

Further publications can be found at hollyordway.com

Additional Information

Dr. Ordway teaches in the Online M.A. in Apologetics. She lives in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and travels frequently, both in the United States and internationally, to lecture on imaginative apologetics, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien. She has published articles in various journals and magazines, including Christianity Today, Christian Research Journal, and Books & Culture, and is a published poet, and has served as a judge for Christianity Today’s Book of the Year award (Apologetics category). She is the Charles Williams Subject Editor for the Journal of Inklings Studies. Her current book project is Tolkien’s Modern Sources: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages (forthcoming, Kent State University Press).