Oliver Twist and Scrooge will be among a list of enduring literary creations to come under discussion this weekend as part of a Charles Dickens day at the University of Aberdeen.
The 'Popular Dickens' conference takes place at the Old Senate Room, King's College on Saturday (May 5) and will feature lectures from some of the world's leading Dickens experts. There will also be an exhibition of Dickens-related treasures, culled from the University's own extensive holdings, on display.
Dr Paul Schlicke, a senior lecturer in English, organised the conference, which is the latest one-day event to be sponsored by the University's Centre for the Novel.
"The speakers are among the foremost Dickens scholars alive, so it is a real privilege to have them visit Aberdeen, where we have a collection of some of the world's best library holdings of Dickens materials outside London," said Dr Schlicke, who is also chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Charles Dickens Museum in London.
The Dickens day is foretaste of a major international conference on the novel scheduled for summer 2008 in the Granite City.
"Because Aberdeen is an ancient university, which had a deposit library up into the 1830s and a working library before and after, our holdings are truly magnificent," added Dr Schlicke. "We have first editions of virtually all of Dickens's texts and complete runs not only of periodicals he edited but of other journals contemporary with him."
The conference will run from 9.30am to 5.15pm on Saturday, May 5 in the Old Senate Room, King's College. The speakers are as follows:
9.30am - Juliet John, Dickens and the Heritage Industry; 11am - Michael Slater, Dickens as Editor and Novelist: The Case of Oliver Twist: 1.45pm - Grahame Smith, Scrooge and the Empress of Ireland; 3.15pm - John Drew, Writing for the Mob: Dickens at a Popular Press Editor; 4.15pm - Malcolm Andrews, Dickens Popularises Dickens: the Public Readings.
There will be a break for coffee from 10.30-11am and 2.45-3.15pm. Lunch will be held from 12.30-1.45pm. Anyone wishing to attend should contact Dr Paul Schlicke href="mailto:p.schlicke@abdn.ac.uk">p.schlicke@abdn.ac.uk</a> or Ainsley McIntosh href="mailto:a.mcintosh@abdn.ac.uk">a.mcintosh@abdn.ac.uk</a></p>