You can learn more about Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins at our current exhibition 'Mutual Friends.'

But hurry; the exhibition ends Sunday!

Tonight! See a restored version of David Lean's Great Expectations on the big screen at the BFI, and find out why the film was ranked fifth in a BFI poll of the top 100 British films in 1999.

I'll say a few words before the film to introduce it too:

whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default…

Every morning after I've had a programme on BBC Two my inbox gets delightfully full of messages from men who didn't like my lipstick. It makes me feel like it's 1922 and I'm being castigated by Captain Hastings for being 'fast'.

Last night as I watched the news, I thought about 19C women who fought so hard to have a voice. I hope there are many oppressed people capable of doing the same at the moment. “ #Courage calls to courage everywhere, and its voice cannot be denied” Millicent Garrett Fawcett.

In last night’s #LifeWriting class, we looked at how to begin working on a #biography or #memoir . It can feel overwhelming at times, but by breaking it down into a timeline or series of “scenes” you can start to build up the story a little at a time. #writing

Black #Labrador amid #bluebells = perfection. #dogs #springtime 🌸

Still the BEST sports commentary of all-time. 😂

Is it Monday morning already??? #dogs #JackRussell

In today’s Life Writing class my students are looking at the challenges of writing about painful episodes in our own lives - one of the most challenging things to do as a writer. This always prompts great discussion.

Yum! Black coconut ice cream from ⁦Jude's Ice Cream⁩ is highly recommended.

✨TODAY’S EPISODE ✨

The inimitable Emily Howes - award winning author of #ThePaintersDaughters - talks about her new book MRS DICKENS … which she is writing as we speak!

🎧here on all platforms: buzzsprout.com/1897197/148224…

🔥🎩🔥📚🔥✍🏻🔥

There are so many rarities in #MurderByTheBook , but having these first editions in my hands was particularly special. #JosephineTey 's first two books, both published in 1929, before we even knew the name. See them Cambridge University Library across the summer; free tickets lib.cam.ac.uk/murderbythebook

From 2013, when I unveiled a #Dickens blue plaque on Cleveland Street in #London fitzrovianews.com/2013/06/10/pla… ⁦English Heritage⁩ A happy memory that just popped up on my phone.

A #travel memory from #Auckland . Captain Cook in the 21C. #NZ #sculpture

I toured with Dr Angelou during her last visit to the UK in 2005. I'll never forget the thousands of people hanging on every word, especially 'Phenomenal Woman', or indeed, singing in the car - always singing!

Here's to phenomenal women everywhere!

Happy #NationalPetDay to all our followers. 🐶

#Dickens adored his animals, and owned dogs, cats, horses, ravens and an eagle to name just a few of his pets.

He is pictured here with his favourite dog, a mastiff called 'Turk.'

I came to Florida to lecture about #Dickens , but I was unprepared to discover it’s impossible to escape from him, even on a Floridian breakfast menu.

Pick up this month's edition of Hampshire Life Magazine for a feature all about Charles Dickens' links with Portsmouth - including a guided tour of city with his great great great granddaughter, Lucinda Hawksley.

Such a poignant memory just popped up from 8 years ago: the day I gave Bee Gee Robin Gibb a tour of Charles #Dickens ’s home in #Kent . Very sadly, Robin died just a year later. He was a huge Dickens fan, to the extent that he had named his own home Gad's Hill Place. #RIP

If you haven’t yet seen it, I heartily recommend watching “American Fiction”. Such a great film with a brilliant script. Watch it! (If you’ve ever worked in publishing you will cringe while laughing till you cry.) #AmericanFiction