200 Today

Google Dickens

Had he lived as long as some of his books, Charles Dickens would have been 200 today. We've been running lots of events in China over the last few months, including a writing & photography competition called Our Times, a series of salons in ten cities, some film screenings and earlier today took part in a global 'read-a-thon' with 24 countries reading an extract from a different Dickens text, one every hour from Albania to Russia. More on that here.
And tonight I MC'd a birthday party at the Ambassador's Residence, attended by Beijing's literati. When the buffet was served, I resisted the temptation of saying 'And you can ask for more'.


It's also my brother-in-law Nick's birthday, and he writes books too - crime novels, nine to date. It's not really my genre, but they're pretty good. See www.nickwastnage.com/