Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was an English novelist, journalist, and editor whose vivid characters and portrayals of Victorian society made him one of Britain’s most celebrated writers. Born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, Hampshire, he experienced financial hardship as a child. His father’s imprisonment for debt and his own work in a shoe-polish factory deeply influenced his concern for poverty, injustice, and vulnerable children. The Dickens Fellowship

Dickens began his career as a reporter and achieved widespread fame with The Pickwick Papers, published in installments in 1836–1837. His later works include Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations. Combining humor, suspense, and social criticism, he reached a broad readership and became a popular public performer of his own writing. He died on June 9, 1870, at age 58, and was buried in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey. The Dickens Fellowship