Public Programs

Dickens Day of Writing

This annual event combines a writing retreat with a competition for high school juniors and seniors. Guided by a short essay from Dickens, participants strengthen skills in reading, analysis, writing, creativity, and cultural history while preparing for future academic and professional paths.

Santa Cruz Pickwick Club

The Santa Cruz Pickwick Club, a branch of the Dickens Fellowship, brings together readers, students, and teachers in a monthly discussion of nineteenth-century novels. Supported by the Santa Cruz Public Libraries, the group fosters community through shared reading.

Dickens-to-Go

This bi-weekly video series featured faculty, students, and friends of the Project sharing why certain Dickens passages mattered to them. Designed to spark curiosity, the program offered audiences a glimpse into the richness of Dickens’s writing and its continuing relevance.

LitLabs

LitLabs is a public humanities initiative that blends literary study with visual, performing, and site-based arts to explore how communities engage with texts. Founded by Dr. Jacqueline Jean Barrios, it bridges literary scholarship and urban humanities to animate connections between literature, place, and lived experience.

Dickens in a Minute

Launched in 2018, this audio project showcased faculty and graduate students presenting their research in a concise, engaging format. The Project plans to bring the program back in 2026 with fresh contributions from new generations of scholars.