Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian age. His work, which includes such enduring classics as David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, was immensely popular with contemporary audiences and has continued to fascinate readers for generations. A Christmas Carol - which Dickens refers to as his "ghostly little book" - was an immediate success on publication and is often credited with inventing the modern form of Christmas.
A. L. Kennedy is a prolific writer of novels, short stories, non-fiction, plays and film scripts. She often features on R4 and is both an associate professor of creative writing and an occasional stand-up comedian. After over 30 years of writing for adults, she now also writes for children, including the hilarious Uncle Shawn series, illustrated by Gemma Correll, and most recently she abridged Charles Dickens' Great Expectations for middle-grade readers. She is the winner of multiple UK and international prizes, including the Costa Book of the Year Award and the Somerset Maugham Award. She lives in Scotland.
