Authors As Characters

OK. I should reread Poul Anderson's two Old Phoenix short stories to address the identity of the first person narrator. First, let us consider three other imaginative authors that we appreciate here on this issue. 

In Surprised By Joy, CS Lewis makes the points that:

Shakespeare could appear as Author in a play in dialogue with Hamlet;

the "Shakespeare" character would be both Shakespeare and one of his creatures;

this would be analogous to Incarnation.

It would indeed but Lewis does not mention that he wrote himself very effectively into his Ransom Trilogy.

Andrea Camilleri converses with his character, Inspector Montalbano, in two works.

Not only did Alan Moore see his character, John Constantine, in the real world but I think that Moore incarnated himself as V in V for Vendetta. See here.

But we will return to Poul Anderson and the Old Phoenix some time tomorrow. (And will continue to read To Kill The President this evening.)