Waterstone's in Gower Streeet will be hosting a discussion between Robert Patten and John Sutherland on Thursday 24 May 2012, starting at 6.30pm. Tickets cost £3 and are available from the bookshop.
Bob Patten's new book Charles Dickens and "Boz": The Birth of the Industrial-Age Author has now been published by Cambridge University Press. John Sutherland's book, The Dickens Dictionary, An A-Z of England's Greatest Novelist, was published in February by Icon Books.
The Friends of Dickens New York have devised a programme of readings from Dickens, which they are willing to perform free of charge for libraries, schools and human service organisations in the New York City Metro area. They are offering this programme throughout 2012 to mark the bicentenary. Each programme lasts about 45 minutes and includes many of the readings that Dickens himself gave to audiences during his highly popular reading tours.
Alderney, in the Channel Islands, has issued a set of stamps to mark the bicentenary of Charles Dickens. The six stamps feature characters from Oliver Twist, including Fagin, the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates, with images from the original illustrations by George Cruikshank.
(The Bailiwick of Guernsey is also issuing a set of stamps to mark the 30th birthday of Prince William.)
London by Dickens, starring a very young Alan Bates as the 'narratorial voice' was made and screened in 1958 but is being restored and will be available on DVD. The programme draws on Sketches by Boz, The Uncommercial Traveller, The Mudfog Papers, The Picnic Papers, and other journalism by Dickens.
The Royal Academy of Music has a new temporary exhibition from 2 May to 1 September 2012. Renowned for his prose, Dickens was also passionate about music, dance and drama. This temporary display considers the novelist's rarely-explored connections to the Victorian musical worlld, and to the Academy itself. From his sister Fanny who was an Academy student, to the libretto he penned for a forgotten opera, to versions of his stories transposed into popular songs and musicals, you are invited to come and see a Dickensian soundtrack brought to life by the Academy collections.
Submitted by Joan Dicks on 13 April 2012 - 10:57am
A musical adaptation of Charles Dickens's story of self-sacrifice and redemption will be revived at the Charing Cross Theatre from 15 April - 12 May. Evenings at 7.30pm Monday- Saturday; Matinees 3.30pm Saturday.
A Tale of Two Cities premiered Upstairs at the Gatehouse in 2008 but is being revived in celebraton of the Dickens bicentenary. Directed by Paul Nicholas this musical version has music by multi platinum award-winner David Pomeranz, book by Emmy winner Steven David Horwick and David Somaes, lyrics by Steven David Horwick and musical arrangements by John Cameron.
This year on Saturday 13 October at Senate House, London, Dickens Day will explore the nature of Dickens's popularity in his own time and in ours. The keynote speaker is Juliet John.
As from Saturday 14 April, Highgate Cemetery is offering a tour of the Dickens's graves there. Tours start at 4.30pm and from now on will take place every Saturday.
This bicentenary opportunity includes a guided tour which includes the graves of Charles Dickens's wife, Catherine, his parents, John and Elizabeth, his sister Frances (Fanny) and her son, Henry, and Charles's younger brother Alfred. The graves of Dickens's associates buried at Highgate will also be visited as part of the tour.
Submitted by Joan Dicks on 12 April 2012 - 12:32pm
The Parliamentary Channel (Channel 81) has a broadcast on Friday, 13th April, from 2315 to 2345 on "Dickens in Parliament". The blurb in the Radio Times is "Carolyn Quinn discovers how Dickens was inspired by his time as a Westminster Journalist."
Griff Rhys Jones, Clare Brant and Brian Hurwitz will present a full day of talks and readings celebrating the Bicentenary of Charles Dickens, and exploring the great city that ainspired his novels. Speakers include Ruth Richardson, Rosemary Ashton, Michael Allen, and Juliet John.
Saturday 28th April, King's College London, King's Great Hall, Strand Campus
10am- 5pm, Admission Free, no booking required.
