Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire! 🔥

Are you an unsung codebreaker? Does your knowledge and feel for Dickens mean that you could be the next person to crack some of the hieroglyphic mystery of the shorthand system that Dickens created for himself. Or are you able to trace the source of the writings that Dickens read from whilst dictating to his pupil Arthur Stone …?A year ago Dominic caught up with Dr. Claire Wood & Prof. Hugo Bowles on their extraordinary Dickens Code project. Since they last spoke,  Claire and Hugo have not only won the Research Project of the Year: Times Higher Education Award but have now - for the very first time - pooled all of Dickens’ surviving shorthand manuscripts into one place in a special online exhibition entitled - Decoding Dickens: The Shorthand Mysteries …  Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Welcome to this  special one-on-one chat with Armando Iannucci - one of the leading comedy writers and political satirists of our time - where we delve into his literary passions and influences. This lively conversation peels back the layers of Armando's lifelong love of Charles Dickens - Martin Chuzzlewit in particular -and his interest in John Milton's masterpiece Paradise Lost and how these literary giants have left an indelible mark on his work. How he would later go on to write, produce and direct his own adaptation of David Copperfield, and whether he agrees that the character of Alan Partridge belongs in Dickens' canon of comic creations!Plus his current work adapting his mock-verse poem Pandemonium for London's West End. With readings from the wonderful Rebecca Tanwen. Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

What does it mean to experience time? Is it a linear journey from past to present, or is it a complex and intricate web of memories, feelings, and experiences? Our guest today is the inimitable Céleste Callen, from The University of Edinburgh, who delves into her thesis that explores subjective temporal experience in Dickens’ fiction,  through the lens of Henri Bergson’s philosophy of time.This episode explores Bergson's seminal works: Time and Free Will  & Matter and Memory  and Dickens' Christmas Books: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Haunted Man and his first person narratives David Copperfield & Great Expectations ...Readings in this episode are from the wonderful Sophie Reynolds and Peter Bray Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Welcome to a new series of Charles Dickens: A Brain on Fire!🔥Today we take a deep dive into Dickens’ final, unfinished novel,  The Mystery of Edwin Drood …Joining us to talk about this extraordinary book, is the inimitable Dr Pete Orford who is a Lecturer in English Literature, and Course Director for the MA research in Charles Dickens, at the University of Buckingham.Pete has written extensively on Shakespeare, Dickens but also Terry Pratchet, Philip Pulman and JK Rowling. With contributions to The Oxford Handbook and Blackwell Companion to Charles Dickens and he is currently editing Pictures From Italy for Oxford University Press.Pete is also the author of Edwin Drood: Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel and our endless attempts to end it - which means following swiftly on the back of this episode he will be joining us again to talk about all the ‘what if’s’ and conspiracy theories that have sprung up in trying to solve the unanswered questions of what was Dickens going to write next at the point where his novel stops! But right now, in this first part, our focus is on the text that exists … Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Emma Bache, a leading UK graphologist and psychotherapist, delves into the secrets of Charles Dickens' handwriting. She reveals how his script mirrors intimate aspects of his personality, including potential bisexuality and emotional struggles. Bache highlights the evolution of Dickens' writing style and emotional state, noting how it reflects his tumultuous relationships with women. Listeners also learn to analyze their own handwriting through Bache’s insights, making the personal interconnected with the literary.

What do luxurious wallpapers, deadly poison, and supernatural elements have in common? Join host Dominic Gerrard for a captivating conversation with novelist and literary historian Jon Michael Varese as we unravel the mysteries of his latest novel, The Company. Set in 1870, this gothic tale follows the Braithwhite family as they grapple with the shocking discovery of a poisonous pigment in their wallpaper business. Jon shares his inspirations for this riveting story and how it mirrors modern issues like climate change and denial of truth.Here is a link to purchase The CompanyHere is also a link to purchase Lucinda Hawksley's Bitten By Witch Fever ... Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic welcomes the brilliant writer Katie Lumsden back to the podcast. Katie's debut novel The Secrets of Hartwood Hall, published by Penguin's Random House, is now out in the shops (both sides of the Atlantic) and ready to be a part of your summer reading.Katie has also  launched a The Mega Dickens Readalong, where you the listener are all invited to read all of Dickens’ novels in chronological order, so in this episode she shares her impressions of  the first five books that have been read by the group so far: Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop  and Barnaby Rudge. Reading excerpts from these first five novels is the wonderful actress, Olivia Mace.  Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by Dr. Nicholas Cambridge who is an Honorary Research Fellow in Humanities at the University of Buckingham and a visiting scholar in Medical Humanities at Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University. After qualifying as an electrical engineer, Nicholas switched career to became a GP and as a medical student won the first ever History of Medicine Prize from the Royal Society Medicine. He then worked for 25 years as a family Doctor in Surrey (in the south of England), but that prize he won as a student nearly 50 years ago seems to have planted a seed that in retirement is now growing to fruition. His new book, Bleak Health which gives a fascinating insight into the conditions that Dickens, his family and people in the 19th Century more widely, had to contend with. The primary sources in Bleak Health are Dickens’ own words where in his letters he confides to the people who are closest to him, about his mental, physical and emotional struggles throughout his life … Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the brilliant actress, poet & playwright Laurie Ogden. Together they talk about her experience filming her TV debut as Biddy in FX's Great Expectations ...Laurie's poetry collection Humaning is available to purchase here:  Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!

Dominic is joined by the brilliant Dr. Emily Bell who digs deep into Dickens’ second novel: Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy’s Progress …Emily is a Lecturer in Digital Humanities & Digital Skills at  the University of Leeds; and is an alumna of both the University of Warwick (where she read English) and York where she completed her MA and Phd. She is also Editor of The Dickensian and is a researcher and consultant on programmes such the BBC’s Horrible Histories and Homeschool History …In this episode Dominic reads excerpts from not only Oliver Twist but there are also clips from his performance of Sikes and Nancy which was filmed during lockdown at the Charles Dickens Museum - the very building where Dickens’ actually wrote this astonishing book.N.B. This conversation touches on some of the more disturbing themes in the novel - such as Nancy’s murder, Sikes’ hanging, and antisemitism - so just be aware if that’s something you might find difficult to listen to. Enjoy the episode! Support the showIf you'd like to make a donation to support the costs of producing this series you can buy 'coffees' right here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dominicgerrardThank you so much!Host: Dominic GerrardSeries Artwork: Léna GibertOriginal Music: Dominic GerrardThank you for listening!