Dickensblog

Happy 201st birthday, Charles Dickens!

"In a sense, Dickens was a greater mystery to his contemporaries than he is to us: they had absolutely no clue as to where it all came from -- the darkness, the passionate empathy with the disadvantaged, the massive driving energy, the overwhelming willpower. Only two years after Dickens's interment at Westminster Abbey, John Forster, exactly as Dickens had intended, in a masterly piece of posthumous stage-management, let the cat out of the bag: the source of so much in his work -- and his life -- suddenly became clear. But nothing can account for a man like Dickens. Not that there ever has been any man like Dickens: quite aside from the stupendous scope of his writing, his personality and his life are of almost overwhelming richness. It is one of the greatest of English Lives, both humbling and heart-warming, despite titanic flaws. It would be wonderful to think that there might be a second Dickens, but there have so far been no sightings."

-- Simon Callow, Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World, p. 350

Happy birthday, dear Mr. Dickens.

(You don't look a day over 200.)

(Photo from Dickens birthday celebration in Clark Park, Philadelphia, Pa., February 3, 2013. Photo courtesy of Herb Moskovitz, The Buzfuz.)

Dickens Bicentennial Fundraiser results

Apologies for the delay -- I've been a little behind with everything lately. But at long, LONG last, I have the totals for the Dickens Bicentennial Fundraiser.

First, let's thank everyone who donated or helped raise money via guest posts, participating in the readathon, and other ways: John, David, Nina, Selenia, Trynstje, Rachel, and Mo. Thanks also to those who donated to the readathon participants -- though I don't have all their names, we're sincerely grateful for their help!

In the end, we raised $294 for the Somaly Mam Foundation, $171 for the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, and $20 for Books for America, for a grand total of $485. I like to think that Mr. Dickens would be pleased!

Big doings at the Birthplace

Dickens's 201st is almost here, and Portsmouth is getting ready to celebrate. I wish I could see that quilt exhibit!

Celebrating the 201st with 'Great Expectations'

It won't be as big a deal as his 200th, of course, but the Brits have come up with a great way to celebrate Dickens's 200th birthday in February: The West End production of Great Expectations will be broadcast in theaters around the U.K. And some of the money raised will go to a new charity, The Dickens Legacy, which will be fundraising for issues that concerned Dickens. (I think that's the part of the celebration that would have pleased him most!) I haven't yet been able to find much online yet about the charity; anyone who has details, please feel free to share them in the comments section.

Dickens for Breakfast is back!

The group calling itself Dickens for Breakfast is starting another group read! Some of you may recall how these work: They send out PDF files of the original installments of a novel, by e-mail. (Here's my description of their Tale of Two Cities read.) This time they're doing 18 monthly installments of Martin Chuzzlewit, which celebrates its 170th anniversary this year.

If you're interested in participating, contact Yuri Cowan at yuri.cowan@ntnu.no to sign up!

Reflections on the bicentennial

I'm always sorry to say goodbye to an old year. But this year, I'm even sorrier than usual.

It's been a great year for Dickensians -- a year in which the world honored the author we love. From the memorial service at Westminster Abbey to the Dickens Fellowship conference in Portsmouth, to the birthday tributes right here on this blog; from readathons to statues to costume parties; from new movies and new biographies to birthday cards and teas, admirers of Charles Dickens found just about every conceivable way to celebrate his 200th birthday. And it has been wonderful fun!

As well, many of you helped raise money for charity in honor of Dickens's own tireless generosity and care for the needy. I'm still tallying up the results, and hope to have those for you in a few days. But it's looking like we raised a sum that would have made the Inimitable proud.

But just because the bicentennial year is ending, that doesn't mean we leave Dickens behind with it! The good news is, of course, that we take him with us into the new year, just as we have in every year before this. Matthew Davis, in an excellent article about he spent the year reading all of Dickens's novels (thanks to Wendy and Christy for the link), reminds us: "So as New Year approaches, reading Dickens in 2013 would not be a bad resolution to make."

I couldn't have said it better myself. 

And so, as Scrooge said, "A happy New Year to all the world!" And may it be as happy a year for Dickensians as this year has been.

Dickens on the Strand

By Selenia Paz, guest blogger

Dickens on the Strand is a world-famous annual one-weekend festival dedicated to Dickens and his time. It is located in Galveston in the state of Texas, and takes place during the first weekend of December, rain or shine.

This was my first experience visiting the festival, although I had already heard about the parades, the food, the costumes, and the visits from Dickens’s relatives. After missing last year’s festival (and the opportunity to view the famous Dickens’s Dream painting in person) I decided this would be the year I would finally visit the festival, especially with the bicentennial taking place this year.

You can sign Dickens's birthday card!

That is, you can if you visit Galveston's Dickens on the Strand celebration. They're going for a world-record-setting number of signatures (over 4000). Best of luck to them!

Bicentennial festival in Toronto

Soulpepper Theatre Company has announced The Word Festival, a festival of plays, readings and music, in honor of Dickens's bicentennial. BroadwayWorld.com has the details!

British students create 'Oliver Twist' graphic novel

The students are from Dickens's own county of Kent. Read more about their project here.