Dear Friends,
Out of concern for the health and safety of all our participants, especially the more vulnerable among us, we have decided to cancel the Dickens Universe planned for this coming July and postpone it until the summer of 2021. This difficult decision has the unanimous support of the Project Executive Committee and the Universe organizers.
This is a particularly sad decision for me to announce, as it means that, for the first time in 40 years, my summer will not include the annual meeting of so many dear friends and colleagues. I am sure that many of you have similar feelings.
I am nonetheless pleased to report that our Universe organizing team--Ryan Fong, Tricia Lootens, Jason Rudy, and Brigitte Fielder--has agreed to carry over into summer 2021 their plans for a conference focused on David Copperfield and Iola Leroy. Insofar as possible, they hope to replicate the excellent program they had organized for this coming July. Dates for the 2021 Universe remain to be confirmed but have tentatively been set for July 24-31.
Anyone who previously enrolled in the 2020 Dickens Universe will receive a full refund of their registration fees. More information about refunds will be posted on the Dickens Project website as that information becomes available.
The Dickens Universe is a special event, one that depends on the presence over several days in a single place of a closely-knit community intensely engaged in reading and discussing a small number of challenging tests. The Universe would be impossible to produce in any form other than as a live event. For this reason, we have not attempted to offer it in a virtual or online format.
We are grateful to you, our loyal community, for your continued support of the Dickens Project over many years. I look forward to resuming the Dickens Universe in all its splendor in the summer of 2021.
Stay safe and be well.
Faithfully yours,
John
John O. Jordan, Director
The Dickens Project
University of California, Santa Cruz
