Talks & Speaking Engagements

Lizzie Siddal, Kate Perugini (née Dickens) and Princess Louise were all talented artists and celebrities of the 19th-century artistic world. Their lives and careers reveal a very fascinatingly different story from our usual preconceptions about Victorian women. Lucinda Hawksley has written biographies of all of these remarkable women, and in this talk she will share their stories, revealing their secrets, their ambitions, and the scandals that surrounded them.

Come along on 28 September to discover the lives of unconventional people living in a very conventional time.

Seated talk and book signing.

A unique opportunity to hear author Lucinda Hawksley in conversation about her great great great grandfather Charles Dickens.

From childhood, Charles Dickens was fascinated by tales from other countries and other cultures, and he longed to see the world. Lucinda Hawksley talks about her latest book, Dickens and Travel, which looks at the journeys made by the author, and how they influenced his writing and enriched his life.

Although Dickens is usually perceived as a London author, in the 1840s he whisked his family away to live in Italy for a year, and spent several months in Switzerland. Some years later he took up residence in Paris and Boulogne (where he lived in secret with his lover). In addition to travelling widely in Europe (including, of course, Liverpool), he also toured America twice, performed onstage in Canada and, before his untimely death, was planning a tour of Australia.

There will be the opportunity to buy Lucinda’s book and have it signed during the event.

All proceeds from this event will go to Smithdown in Bloom.

Starting on the journey of writing non-fiction  –  whether based on your own experiences or those of another  – can be daunting, but thrilling. Experienced writers and tutors Lucinda Hawksley and Julie Summers will help you to navigate the joys and pitfalls of life-writing; to move beyond simply telling the story as it happened. You will learn how to bring characters to the fore, and how to breathe life into historical events. Through a series of writing exercises designed to stretch you, the tutors will help unlock your authorial voice and share ways to reveal personal stories without leaving you feeling exposed. This course is aimed at writers of all levels who want to explore new techniques for creating exciting narratives that bring human stories to life.

Lumb Bank Photo © The Arvon Foundation

At lunchtime on 9 June, I’ll be at the Charles Dickens Museum in London, for the anniversary of Dickens’s death, signing copies of Dickens and Travel.

Join Lucinda Hawksley in conversation with author J.M. Varese to discuss his new Gothic thriller The Company.

All welcome!

London, 1870. Lucy Braithwhite lives a privileged existence as heir to the fortune of Braithwhite & Company – the most successful purveyor of English luxury wallpapers the world over. The company’s formulas have been respected for nearly a century, but have always remained cloaked in mystery. No one has been able to explain the originality of design, or the brilliance of their colours, leaving many to wonder if the mysterious spell-like effect of their wallpapers is due simply to artistry, or something more sinister. Set against the backdrop of the real-life arsenic wallpaper controversy of the late 19th century, The Company is a dark and haunting slice of gothic Victoriana, following one woman’s fight to preserve all that she holds dear.

Words With Wine (and canapés)

From childhood, Charles Dickens was fascinated by tales from other countries and other cultures, and he longed to see the world. In Dickens and Travel, Lucinda looks at the journeys made by the author – who is also her great great great grandfather. Although Dickens is usually perceived as a London author, in the 1840s he whisked his family away to live in Italy for a year, and spent several months in Switzerland. A few years later he fell in love with France and took up residence in Paris and Boulogne (where, towards the end of his life, he lived in secret with his lover). In addition to travelling widely in Europe, he also toured the USA twice, travelled around Canada, where he and his wife Catherine performed onstage and, before his untimely death, was planning a tour of Australia.

Dickens and Travel enters into the world of the Victorian traveller and looks at how Charles Dickens’s journeys influenced his writing and enriched his life.

Tickets from Winstone’s Bookshop in advance, or on the door, £5.

The Start of Modern Travel Writing

Join celebrated author, broadcaster, lecturer and award-winning travel writer Lucinda Hawksley as she explores the travel writing of her great, great, great Grandfather Charles Dickens, discovering his many fascinating journeys overseas through her latest book Dickens and Travel (2022). 

This event will be followed by a book signing with the author, with the opportunity to purchase Dickens and Travel. 

This February, join Dickens’s great-great-great granddaughter, Lucinda Hawksley, for a virtual talk on her new book, Dickens and Travel. Lucinda will be sharing some fascinating insights from her research, including Dickens’s scandalous comments regarding which women were the most ‘kissable,’ and his furious condemnation of the injustices he encountered. We’ll be exploring how Dickens travelled, looking at the revolutionary changes in transport which took place during Dickens’s lifetime. We’ll examine the impact of travel upon his family, and his difficulties in maintaining a private life while under the glare of global scrutiny. Above all, Lucinda examines the way in which the wider world helped to shape this most quintessentially British writer.