“The Hero of My Own Life”: David Copperfield and Carlyle’s “Hero as the Man of Letters”
Contributed by Marian Gentile (Temple University, Philadelphia) In the opening line of Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield (1850), David states, “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show”...
“Is there no dinner theatre?!”: Little Dickens and a Dickensian Christmas
This post has been contributed by Catherine Quirk (@quirk_catherine), McGill University. Read her previous posts here, here, and here. In December 2019, theatre-goers at Montréal’s Centaur Theatre found themselves exposed to a new kind of Dickensian Christmas. From 19 November to 21 December, “Master Marionette...
Diana C. Archibald on the Dickens Society YouTube Channel
Dr. Diana C. Archibald (Professor of English, University of Massachusetts-Lowell and Dickens Society member/former officer) discusses her work and perceptions of “American Notes for General Circulation” (1842) by Charles Dickens on the related subjects of incarceration and slavery. She also mentions the 2012 “Dickens in...
We’re Recruiting!
Calling all Dickens Society members! Have you ever dreamt of playing a larger role in the Dickens Society? Did you have such a wonderful time live-tweeting a conference that you never wanted to stop?Are you a genius at conducting, editing, and posting video interviews? Join...
Royal Doulton Dickens at The American Toby Jug Museum: Imitations of the Inimitable
Contributed by Lydia Craig, Loyola University Chicago Ever since the invention of Toby Jugs in the 1760s in Northern England, these collectibles have been bought and sold by people fascinated by the range of their creative potential. Technically, “A Toby Jug is a figural ceramic...
Looking for Walter Landor Dickens
Contributed by Christian Lehmann, Bard High School, Early College On his 52 birthday (7 February, 1864) Charles Dickens received word that his son, Walter Landor, had died in India on 31 December 1863. A few days later Dickens described the circumstances of Walter’s death in...
An Interview with David Paroissien
Lydia Craig interviews David Paroissien, Emeritus Professor of English, UMass Amherst, on the occasion of his retirement as editor of Dickens Quarterly after more than thirty years. Dickens Quarterly was founded in 1970 at the Modern Language Association Convention. How did you first become editor...
Dickens and the Carceral Archipelago
This post has been contributed by Spencer Dodd, University of Wisconsin-Stout. See more posts in response to the 24th Annual Dickens Society Symposium here and here. Prisons loom large in the landscapes of Dickens, standing as discrete, foreboding edifices within the quintessentially “Dickensian” backdrop of...
Sean Grass on the Dickens Society YouTube Channel
Dr. Sean Grass (Professor of English, Rochester Institute of Technology) is currently the Vice-President and President-Elect of the Dickens Society and a long-time member. Sean Grass is Professor of English at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He has authored several essays and three books, The...
Opium, Muffins, and Tea: The Setting of Nicholas Nickleby
This post has been contributed by Dano Cammarota. As a rule, and often unconsciously, I approach literature from a historical perspective. It is my comfort zone and understandably the works of Charles Dickens provide a plethora of history woven seamlessly into the narrative. At the...
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