12th ANNUAL DICKENS SOCIETY SYMPOSIUM

MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA

AUGUST 17-20 2007

On May 11, 1842, Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine arrived in Montreal on the final leg of the “English” part of Dickens’s first North American tour. They stayed until May 30th at Rasco’s Hotel in what is now Old Montreal. At the time of Dickens’s arrival, Montreal was the most populous city in British North America, and would soon to be made the capital in 1844. Its port was booming, and it already gave promise of becoming the economic engine for the rest of Canada. Dickens loved Montreal, which was also the venue for his first return to acting since his authorship days.

In honour of Dickens’s visit to Montreal 165 years ago, the Dickens Society will be holding its annual meeting in Canada for the first time since the Society was established in 1970. Papers on any aspect of Dickens’s life and work are invited for the 12th Annual Dickens Symposium, which will take place at the Hotel Du Fort in downtown Montreal from

August 17-19, 2007. Papers dealing with Dickens’s experiences in Canada would be especially welcome. Proposals should be 1-2 pages long and final papers should be readable in 20 minutes.

Please send proposals by post or email (MS Word only) to:

Prof. Goldie Morgentaler

Dept of English

University of Lethbridge

4401 University Drive

Lethbridge, AB.

Canada. T1K 3M4

Ph: (403) 329-2365

Email: goldie.morgentaler@uleth.ca

Deadline for proposals is April 15, 2007.

Conference participants will have the opportunity to take part in a walking tour of Old Montreal with stops of particular interest to Dickensians. Montreal is a glorious place to visit in the summertime!