Summary of the impact

Robert Douglas-Fairhurst has been credited with enabling a `reinvention' of biography. His studies of Charles Dickens and 19th century London have been communicated to a diverse audience in the UK and worldwide through his work as a biographer and an advisor on highly regarded TV adaptations of classic novels. His contributions to events marking the bicentenary of Dickens's birth include advising on BBC1's 3-part adaptation of Great Expectations (2011), assisting with sound historical and creative interpretation to support the film's educational, cultural and market value. Wider public understanding of the life and motivations of Dickens was achieved through various means including television and radio appearances, newspaper articles, blogs, podcasts, and public speaking engagements.

Summary of the impact

John Bowen's research discoveries and arguments about the interaction of autobiography and fictionality in Dickens's writing challenge and extend scholarly perceptions of this major culturally iconic figure and provide the basis for bringing a new Dickens to 21^st-century publics. He has used his research deliberately to shape the way Dickens is presented by key cultural institutions. Direct beneficiaries of his research have included the Dickens Universe, the British Library, the Museum of London and the media. He has worked with these institutions to ensure the wide UK, European and American reach of the impact of his research.

Summary of the impact

Birkbeck's Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies (CNCS) has pioneered a reassessment of Victorian sentimentality, prompting the rethinking of a maligned cultural phenomenon. Its major impacts include contributions to understanding Dickens's life and writings, exemplified by the success of Dickens Day and Slater's publications; and two recent exhibitions. `Victorian Sentimentality' (commissioned by Tate Britain, 2012) and `Touching the Book: Embossed Literature for Blind People in the Nineteenth Century' (with the support of RNIB and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, 2013), illustrate how CNCS has played an influential role in re-shaping public understanding and reception of Victorian literary and visual culture.

Summary of the impact

Focusing on the lives and works of Dickens and Tennyson, this case study demonstrates how a team of literary researchers at the University of Portsmouth has promoted public re-engagement with Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight's literary heritage. Their research on questions of celebrity and social marginality has been adapted and exploited to interpret and disseminate the region's cultural capital through public events, websites, and publications. Encouraging a fresh look at Dickens, Tennyson, and Victorian life, the impact of this research has increased public understanding of Victorian issues, and prompted local stakeholders to re-evaluate existing knowledge, policy and commercial practice.

Summary of the impact

Deborah Wynne's research into nineteenth-century literature's engagement with material culture is internationally recognised. Her latest work on textiles underpins the Textile Stories Project, a celebration of the rich heritages of fabric, fashion and costume, particularly in literary contexts. The project is designed to appeal to members of the public with an interest in textiles, crafts, fashion, and the costume drama and has influenced public understanding of the significance of nineteenth- century literature. By demonstrating the role of textiles in literary contexts, the project also creates opportunities for general readers to enhance their understanding of, and pleasure in, the literary culture and screen adaptations.

Summary of the impact

Dickens scholarship, and has impacted upon culture and leisure services; schools, colleges and lifelong learning; charities; community organisations; and the media. The delivery mechanism was a year-long festival, known as Dickens 2012 NI (Registered charity no. XT33252), which attracted thirty thousand of people of all ages. It organised events covering literature, theatre, music, the visual arts, museums, and education. The project achieved the following impacts:

• an increased level of understanding among all participants of Dickens's multiple literary and personal connections with Ireland
• the provision of professional expertise on Dickens and Ireland, drawn upon frequently by the arts sector and the media, which allowed them to provide informed, authoritative pronouncements on this subject, particularly during the Dickens bicentenary year
• the conception and delivery of public exhibitions with demonstrable benefit for culture and leisure services, through enhanced access to events which had a positive effect on well-being
• the provision of work-placement opportunities in arts management for Queen's postgraduate students, thus enhancing their employment prospects
• a set of formal links with the young people's charity Barnardo's, particularly for delivering outreach work on literacy, which excited young people in disadvantaged areas about reading, and enhanced their engagement with the arts in a suitable accessible form

Summary of the impact

Researchers in Warwick's English Department have offered new perspectives on Britain's cultural and literary heritage by re-evaluating authors: both the very well-known (Dickens), the obscure (Charlotte Smith), and the otherwise forgotten (seventeenth-century women writers whose writing in manuscript would, without extensive archival recovery, be lost to view). The research has increased public understanding of Britain's rich literary history by inspiring new forms of traditional and digital art, public events and exhibitions, improved tourist information, and has led to the preservation and presentation of many literary artefacts through the creation of digital resources.