Past Events
Join us at the Charles Dickens Museum for a special talk with celebrated author, biographer, and Dickens descendant Lucinda Hawksley, as she shines a light on the remarkable life and career of Katey Dickens who was born on 29th October 1839 at 48 Doughty Street, one of Charles Dickens’s most fascinating children.
Drawing from her acclaimed book, Katey: Dickens’s Artistic Daughter, Lucinda will explore Katey’s extraordinary journey as a professional artist in Victorian Britain. Often overshadowed by her famous father, Katey forged her own identity in the art world, exhibiting at the Royal Academy and establishing herself as a respected portrait painter.
Through Lucinda’s expert storytelling, we will uncover the struggles and triumphs of a woman determined to succeed in a male-dominated profession, and gain new insight into the Dickens family dynamic—beyond the public persona of England’s greatest novelist.
Miriam Margolyes From A to Z
Whether sharing daring declarations, behind-the-scenes antics, or the indignities of ageing, Miriam’s insights will touch your heart, provoke your thoughts, and leave you in stitches.
With her signature candour, unpredictability, and unvarnished truth, the irreplaceable Miriam Margolyes will deliver an experience as unique and extraordinary as she is. …
This riveting read provides a vital look at the inside story of our food: what we eat and how we should be eating it. Tim Spector introduces us to a way of eating that’s not only nutritious and cheap but also one of the longest and best-established systems in the world. Something that’s both simple and fool-proof but at the same time life-changing!
Fermentation.
Tim Spector has already made a name for himself as an advocate of healthy foods. As Professor of Epidemiology at King’s College London and best-selling author of, amongst others, The Diet Myth, Spoon-Fed and Food for Life, he certainly knows his onions…
This year’s award ceremony marks the opening event of the Isle of Wight Literary Festival. Taking place at the Island Sailing Club in Cowes on Tuesday 7th October, the Presentation Lunch will include an opening speech by award founder Hunter Davies, with all three judges in attendance.
It’s a rare chance to see Island-inspired authors and readers come together in celebration—and for finalists, a moment to share their work in front of a literary-minded audience.
Judges:
- Children’s books: Nicholas Allen, author and illustrator of favourites like The Queen’s Knickers
- Fiction: M.H. Eccleston, whose Island-based murder mystery Death on the Isle won the very first award
- Non-fiction: Lucinda Hawksley, historian, broadcaster, and descendant of Charles Dickens
Join authors Angela Buckley and Lucinda Hawksley for a special event looking at Victorian detective stories, from real-life mysteries to those created by Charles Dickens (Lucinda’s great great great grandfather). The talk will explore the legendary author’s fascination with detectives and their sleuthing adventures, as well as the real-life investigators and crime cases that inspired both his fiction and journalism.
Walk around Charles Dickens’s London from his former home in Bloomsbury to where he was living when he wrote A Christmas Carol. Your guide, Lucinda Hawksley, is a great great great granddaughter of Charles and Catherine Dickens and the author of more than 20 books, including Dickens and Christmas and Dickens and Travel.
Join the inspiring author and historian Lucinda Hawksley for an intimate salon, discussing all things Persuasion!
Over tea and cake, Lucinda will share some of her favourite scenes, characters and moments from the novel, and lead a discussion on everything from long engagements to hedgerow rambles, romantic letters and seaside ramparts.
Photo credit: Katrina Campbell
‘Loving longest’: Women, constancy and care in Persuasion.
Join acclaimed author Emily Howes for a fascinating conversation about Persuasion and how it deals with women’s relationships, the intricacies of class and social mobility, and the expectations around caring and care.
Emily will consider comparison points in Persuasion and her novel The Painter’s Daughters which tells the story of Peggy and Molly Gainsborough and explores sisterhood, sex, control and individuality.
Emily will be in conversation with author, broadcaster and biographer Lucinda Hawksley.
A child of the Arts & Crafts movement, May Morris was born at the Red House and grew up in the bohemian, complicated, and often heartbreaking atmosphere of her parents’ artistic milieu. She became a prolific artist, as well as a fervent suffragist, and cultivated her own fascinating circle of friends, yet May remained in the shadow of her famous father and – until recent years – was seldom given credit for her own work.