Dickensblog

Dickens and Tolkien to collaborate again

Gerald Dickens and Michael Tolkien, that is. Their first collaboration went so well, they're working on more!

A few follow-up thoughts on 'Edwin Drood'

Again, spoilers ahead . . .

Meet another Dickens descendant

Catherine Dickens Gore, a resident of Hungary, was profiled in yesterday's New York Times.

The best of times: Notes from my bicentenary trip

By David Perdue, Guest Blogger

Upon my return from London for events surrounding the Dickens Bicentenary. I received an email from a fellow Dickens Web site owner, Ritva Raesmaa, from Finland. She also attended the events, although sadly I did not meet her. She summed up the few days in London as a “once in a lifetime” trip . . . and I heartily agree!

The big day in pictures

Members of the Dickens family (image copyright Alpha Press/The Telegraph).

As the clock ticks down . . .

The big day is tomorrow, and the news is pouring in faster than I can type! I'll share just a few highlights with you:

• Some 350 Dickens descendants will be at Poets' Corner on Tuesday for the wreathlaying! The Telegraph's Nigel Farndale, a friend of Adam Charles Dickens (one of the great-great-grandsons), has the story.
• Two Rivers Press has just published A Mutual Friend: Poems for Charles Dickens, a new collection edited by poet Peter Robinson. Today the Guardian is running one of the poems, "I Am Greatly Changed," by Richard Price, as its Poem of the Week.
• An Australian radio station has compiled a mix tape (or what we might call a fanmix) for Dickens.
• Newsweek and the Telegraph have heartfelt new tributes. The latter is written by Simon Callow. And CNN has a report on the celebrations around the world, with a nice photo gallery including pictures of Dickens, his family members, and some of his books and his belongings.
• A peal of bells and a lecture in Southwark, and a booksigning in Washington, D.C., have been added to the celebrations.
• The Times of India has a brief report on celebrations going on in that country. And the BBC World Service is running a radio documentary called Dickens and India -- Mutual Friends.
• The Washington Post tackles "five myths about Charles Dickens." I am, of course, vastly pleased to see them debunk that ridiculous old "paid by the word" smear. However, I must take issue with their assertion that Great Expectations is not a good novel to teach high school students. After all, if a certain ninth-grade student hadn't had it in her syllabus many years ago, this blog might never have existed!

Dickens as 'global brand'

BBC News has a new video up about the "Dickens industry" in the bicentennial year. Gerald Dickens is among those interviewed.

In case of swooning, break glass

I got a kick out of this story: For Gerald Dickens's upcoming performance of "Sikes and Nancy," an herbal shop has re-invented smelling salts.

Lucinda Dickens Hawksley on the Dickens Museum closure

Thanks to Barbara for this link to the interview. It's about 10 minutes from the end of the program.

Gerald Dickens meets Grip the Raven

The Washington Post has the story.