About Us

The Dickens Fellowship of New York encourages all members to participate in its programs and activities to their individual degree of interest, and welcomes new members from all walks of life and at all levels of interest in the writings and philosophies of Charles Dickens.

Statement of Purpose

The members of the Dickens Fellowship of New York seek to keep the memory and study of this exceptional author alive, and in doing so continue to further the ideals inherent in what he wrote.

The Dickens Fellowship of New York reads and discusses the books Charles Dickens wrote more than 150 years ago and seeks to appreciate these novels for what they mirror our own times and what they can teach us today.

We support charitable causes in keeping with the ideas inherent in Dickens’s writings. We keep our membership apprised of cultural events in New York City and nearby that relate to Dickens and his Victorian era.

Our Mutual Objectives: Goals and Aims

 Charles Dickens appeals to the fundamental nature of the human spirit and evokes a universal chord in the hearts and minds of his readers. He was a great man of his time – and an inspiration for all times. A renowned storyteller with a gift for creating memorable characters and plots, Dickens was also an extraordinary dramatist and orator with a zeal for justice and social reform.

Most importantly, this 19th century author saw above and beyond the problems of his own era. In doing so, he created writings that continue to entertain us while they also mirror the problems of modern times. Dickens relentlessly attacks his own society’s preoccupations with materialism and status, the abuses and inadequacies in the school system and workplace, and the exploitation of women and children.

Our fellowship is devoted to such philanthropic and other social and public purposes as are held in keeping with the thoughts of Charles Dickens – to take such measures as may be expedient to remedy existing social evils, to better those conditions which would have appealed so strongly to the heart of Charles Dickens, and to help in every possible direction in the cause of the poor and oppressed.