THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS with Grace Moore

Charles Dickens is famous for his representations of Christmas, particularly the redemption of the notorious miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. This talk will examine how Dickens built a private industry around the festive season, considering how and why the Victorian commercialisation of Christmas came about. In addition to A Christmas Carol Moore will discuss a number of his other Christmas books, including The Chimes, with its striking engravings by Daniel Maclise.

Grace Moore teaches Victorian literature and culture at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of a number of books, including Dickens and Empire (Ashgate, 2004), a student guide to A Christmas Carol (Insight, 2011) and, most recently, The Victorian Novel in Context (Continuum, 2012). She also has research interests in crime writing, neo-Victorianism and bushfires.

Charles Dickens, 'Mr Fezziwig's Ball, 1843