Charles Dickens

Writer

Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and other popular novels of 19th-century England. Dickens' own childhood poverty influenced much of his writing, and he is known especially for characters pulled from the sooty streets of London: orphans and urchins, rogues, shopkeepers, stuffed shirts, widows, and other colorful characters. An all-around workhorse, Dickens edited a monthly magazine, wrote novels, gave public readings and came out with a Christmas story every year. His novels were typically published first in serial form -- as chapter-by-chapter monthly installments in magazines of the day. Among his major works are Oliver Twist (completed 1839), The Old Curiosity Shop (1841), David Copperfield (1850), the historical drama A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1861). His 1843 tale A Christmas Carol featured the miser Ebenezer Scrooge and the sickly tot Tiny Tim, and has remained a popular holiday classic into the 21st century.

Extra credit: Dickens used the pen name Boz early in his career, and his first publication was the short story collection Sketches By Boz (1836)... Oliver Twist was the basis for the stage musical Oliver!; the show won the Tony Award for best musical in 1963, and a 1968 movie version (with Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger) won the Academy Award for best picture... Dickens married the former Catherine Hogarth in 1836. They had 10 children, but their marriage was often tense, and they separated in 1858... He was buried in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey, near Geoffrey Chaucer and other fellow writers.

Other British literary giants include Graham Greene, Lewis Carroll, Emily Brontë and Jane Austen.