At the tail end of July, Professor Nancy Henry and Graduate Students Eliza Alexander Wilcox, Henry Kirby, and Amber Walters-Molina made their way to the University of California- Santa Cruz for the 42nd annual Dickens Universe conference. This Universe focused on Dickens’ 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities and generated conversations about interdisciplinarity in Victorian studies, transatlantic materiality, and, of course, all things Dickens.
C19 Seminar Dickens Universe 2023 attendees. Left to Right: Eliza Alexander Wilcox, Amber Walters-Molina, Nancy Henry, and Henry Kirby. 
C19 Seminar graduate students Eliza Alexander and Amber having dinner with fellow graduate students at the Dickens Universe welcome dinner. 
Left to right: Eliza Alexander Wilcox, Nancy Henry, and Henry Kirby. 
Eliza Alexander presenting key concerns to focus on from the first group discussion while Helena Michie broke it down into categories. 
Graduate students ventured off campus for dinner in Santa Cruz. Featuring Henry Kirby. 
Lively conversation and entertainment ensued at the Dickens Trivia Night hosted by the graduate student cruise directors. 
Victorian Tea presented by the Friends of the Dickens Project. 
Local turkeys attempting to get it into the lectures. 
The Santa Cruz wildlife was in regular attendance at the conference. 
Round table discussion with the Dickens Universe 2023 keynote speakers. 
Dickens Universe members preformed a farce of “A Tale of Two Cities.”
The C19 seminar members all held various roles for the conference. Henry Kirby took the lead and acted as one of the graduate student cruise directors to help the Universe run smoothly. Eliza Alexander attended the graduate student writing workshop. Amber attended the publication workshop. Dr. Nancy Henry was a leader for one led the faculty-led Graduate Student Seminars.
To quote A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
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