The Dickens Prizes

Sponsoring the teaching of Dickens in schools.

Many current members of the Dickens Fellowship discovered Dickens when they were children, either through being read the stories aloud by parents or grandparents, or by being introduced to them at school. They all agree that this early familiarity with Dickens’s work has greatly enriched their lives.

The Fellowship is keen for young people today to have the opportunity of enjoying the exciting, funny and touching stories written by Dickens in his ‘inimitable’ prose.

As a step towards encouraging and celebrating the teaching of Dickens in schools, the Fellowship has joined forces with the English Association to organise conferences for teachers, and to award prizes for work on Dickens at both senior and primary school level.

The English Association was founded only four years after the Dickens Fellowship, in 1906. It is the oldest established association in the United Kingdom for all those interested in English at every level, from primary to higher education. It shares with the Dickens Fellowship the aim of furthering knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of Dickens’s works as part of its general role of promoting all aspects of the English language and its literature. For more information, please visit the English Association website.

The Dickens fellowship is sponsoring two annual prizes, in national competitions administered by the English Association.

The annual Charles Dickens Essay Prize Competition is open to any sixth form student. Entrants are asked to submit an essay of not more than 3000 words on the Dickensian topic of their choice. The winner will receive a cheque for £250.

The More Dickens Primary Competition is open to classes of all ages in primary schools in the UK. First prize of £500 will be awarded for an extended class project based on aspects of Dickens’s works. The runner up will receive £250.