Dickensblog

Casting news

Jason Flemyng (recently seen in X-Men: First Class) will play Joe Gargery in the bigscreen adaptation of Great Expectations.

When Estella met Guppy

I recorded The Hour on BBC America to get a look at Vanessa Kirby, one of our Estellas-to-be. Because I am just that obsessive conscientious. Anyway, Burn Gorman, Bleak House's Guppy, was also there! What a movie mashup that would make, eh?

A Dickensian time capsule

The city of Portsmouth has come up with a great way to celebrate the bicentennial!

A double dose of Scrooge

Scrooge (starring Albert Finney) gets a Blu-ray release in October, and Scrooged (starring Bill Murray) will follow in November. Details -- mostly about the latter release -- are here.

TCM alert

TCM is offering a rare treat tomorrow morning: the 1922 silent version of Oliver Twist, with Jackie Coogan as Oliver and Lon Chaney, "The Man of a Thousand Faces," as Fagin. It's on at 9 a.m. Eastern.

A Dickens bicentenary tour

Martin Randall Travel is offering one in the spring of 2012. Looks like a good one -- only five days, but they plan to pack a lot into a short time!

If you happen to see any more such tours being offered, please pass the word along, will you? It'd be fun to compare what different groups are doing.

A chat with the Dickenses

Gerald Dickens and his sister, Nicky Dickens Flynn, were recently interviewed by the Irish Times about what it's like to belong to their famous family.

A Dickensian Christmas in a castle

Sounds like an amazing way to spend Christmas, if you ask me!

The collectible Dickens

According to Paul Fraser Collectibles, Charles Dickens is the second most collectible novelist (behind James Joyce). Highly costly first editions of A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist are cited in the article.

Call for submissions: Dickens bicentennial issue of 'Charity's Tude'

Guest Post by Charity Bishop

[Ed. note: Some time ago, we discussed celebrating Dickens's bicentennial by having those interested submit articles for a special Dickens issue of a magazine called Costume Chronicles. The magazine's name has since been changed to Charity's Tude -- and here's Charity herself to tell you all about it! --GRD]

Hello, Dickens Fans!

In honor of his Bicentennial, the January and Feburary 2012 issue of Charity’s Tude is going to revolve entirely around Charles Dickens. I know some of you may be interested in contributing to this collection, so here is all the necessary information you might need.