Dickensblog

Giveaway results

Congratulations to Ruth for winning the movie tie-in edition of The Invisible Woman!

'The Invisible Woman': A review and a giveaway

By Rachel McMillan, guest blogger

The Invisible Woman is a film that goes to great lengths to uncover the hidden Dickens, a Dickens unfamiliar to those who enjoy his happy endings and the moralistic brushstrokes that redeem Scrooge through Bob Cratchit’s tightly knit family.

Here, Ralph Fiennes has taken the sordid side of Dickens from Claire Tomalin’s biography of Ellen “Nelly” Ternan, and infused it into the film with no lack of passion, but a great deal of narrative depth and integrity. After the Toronto screening I saw, director/star Ralph Fiennes and his co-star Felicity Jones talked about their passion for the script as well as for the source material. The young Jones was challenged by the “meat” she found in the role.

At the same time, though, the film waded into soap opera territory: straining to find a dark side to Dickens that scholars know existed, without balancing his lesser qualities with his great talent.

A new year and an anniversary

Happy New Year! We have a little something extra to celebrate this month: This blog's fifth anniversary! It was January 26, 2009 when I posted here for the first time. It's been five wonderful years of Dickensian fun and fellowship, and I hope you've all enjoyed it as much as I have!

In honor of the occasion, I'll hold a drawing on the 26th, and there will be prizes! To enter, all you have to do is answer this question in the comment section: Why do you read Dickensblog?

'Christmas Carol' poetry contest results

We had five truly great poems in our Christmas Carol poetry contest. Thank you all so much for participating -- it was a joy to read your work!

Our distinguished judge, Rolley Haggard, has made his ruling, and the winners are . . .

First Place:

"Prequel" by Rheanna Macias

Second Place:

"Belle" by Marian

Third Place: 

"There is no glory in death . . ." by eavis

Congratulations! I'll contact you and get your addresses so I can send out the prizes!

I'm republishing all the poems below the cut. I'm also including one by Selenia -- hers was submitted but somehow got lost in the system. She's e-mailed it to me now, so I'll publish it here, with my sincere apologies.

Poetry contest update

We've had four entries, and they're beautifully written! We have some seriously talented poets here!

I've received a request to extend the deadline another 24 hours, so the new one is tomorrow night at midnight. If any of you are still finishing up poems, this will give you a little more time to do it!

Don't forget . . .

Those of you want to enter the Christmas Carol poetry contest have less than a week to do it!

Poetry contest

Happy first of December! I thought it would be nice to do something a little different and fun this Christmas season. So we're holding the first-ever Dickensblog poetry contest.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

What's your Dickensian name?

Find out with the Dickensian character generator! I got Victoria Troutless (tried a few times till I got a really good one)! Thanks to Tasha for the tip.

For Chicago residents

Want to win two tickets to see A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre? Click here to find out how to enter!

Dickens quiz

Despite having Freshman, Graduate, and Ph.D. levels, for anyone who's a fan of Dickens, this should be a very easy quiz indeed!