The most enduringly popular of all Dickens’s works, A Christmas Carol is a book that we all seem to have always known without ever quite knowing when we first met it. But what led Dickens to write it late in 1843? Why did it strike such a chord with its first Victorian readers? And what is it that makes it such a continuing presence in the holiday season all across the world? This talk will offer some answers to these questions and explore the Carol’s unmatched place in our lives and in Christmas.

Dr. Iain Crawford is Professor of English at the University of Delaware and a former President of the Dickens Society. He has written and lectured widely on Dickens, and his Contested Liberalisms: Martineau, Dickens and the Victorian Press was runner-up for the 2020 Colby Prize for the Best Book in Periodical Studies.

NOTE: seating is limited so registration is required.

The Lewes Spoken Word Society (LSWS) celebrates the tradition and artistry of oral storytelling through lectures, performances, discussions, demonstrations, and other publicly-shared experiences. The LSWS is partially funded by a grant from the Delaware Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com.