On Sunday 7th February 2016 some thirty members and friends gathered under sunny skies in Centennial Park to celebrate the 204th birthday of Dickens at his statue. Michelle Cavanagh welcomed guests at what was her final official engagement as President, reminding those present that the NSW Dickens Society will be holding a Dickens on Holiday Country Weekend next year in Gerringong on the NSW South Coast.
Michelle then introduced NSWDS founding member Susannah Fullerton who gave a fascinating talk on Dickens, his statue, and her feelings on what he might have thought of his memorial. How fortunate we are as a literary society dedicated to Dickens to have his statue right here in Sydney!
Catherine Barker spoke about the 2017 Dickens Fellowship International Conference to be held in Carrara, Italy where the marble for Dickens statue came from. As has become the tradition now, our Liaison Officer Geoff Usher gave his very popular reading of two of Henry Lawson’s poems about Dickens.
This was followed by the singing of Happy Birthday, the cutting of the birthday cake and a champagne toast to our favourite author. All in all a Dickens of a day!