Warwick is launching a new Celebrating Dickens Mobile App on Tuesday 7 February 2012, to mark the bicentenary of Charles Dickens' birth and as part of a week-long salutation to one of the greatest ever authors.

Exclusive video content will be released on the Celebrating Dickens site each day. The new Mobile App has been released today, Tuesday 7 February for Android, along with an iOS version for iPhone and iPad. On Friday 10 February the University will release a feature-length documentary, including interviews with Warwick academics and Charles Dickens’ great-great-great granddaughter Lucinda Hawksley.

The Celebrating Dickens Mobile App offers an academic insight into the novels, life and times of Charles Dickens, one of the greatest ever storytellers.

Led by Charles Dickens expert Professor Jon Mee, from the English and Comparative Literary Studies Department, the App offers a plethora of podcasts, articles and videos exploring aspects of Victorian Britain, Charles Dickens’ novels and adaptations of his works.

Award-winning screenplay writer Andrew Davies, who adapted both Bleak House and Little Dorrit for the BBC, also contributes with an exclusive insight into how one goes about transferring Dickens’ illustrative text into compelling television (see part one below).

The week's activities

• The celebration kicks off on Monday with the publication of a video interview between Professor Jon Mee and his colleague Dr Pablo Mukherjee on 19th century detective fiction and the way Dickens captures crime in his novels.
• The following day the Celebrating Dickens Mobile App will be released, with a second video interview with Lucinda Hawksley, exploring Charles Dickens’ early life and some of the influences on his works.
• Wednesday sees a short interview with PhD student Gabrielle Mearns, who talks about Dickens’ philanthropic work.
• On Thursday Professor Jon Mee interviews Scholar in Residence at the Charles Dickens Museum Professor Bob Patten.
• The week culminates with the publication of a 45-minute academic documentary and Professor Gary Watt from the Law department talking to Professor Mee about Bleak House and how Dickens portrayed the legal profession.

Get the app

Devices

Runs on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or higher

Runs on Android 2.1 (Eclair) and higher

Support

For help and feedback on this app, email us at mobileapps at warwick dot ac dot uk