Following in a tradition coined by Dickens himself, The Penny Readings will be held at London’s British Library on January 22 featuring authors Louis de Bernières, A.S. Byatt and Dickens’ great-great-great granddaughter Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, among others, reading from the author’s oeuvre. While Penny Readings are an annual tradition in Liverpool, UK, Dickens’s bicentennial marks the first time the event will travel to the capital for a performance. Cost of admission is merely a penny, the same price Dickens charged for readings in 19th-century England.
