CFP: Beyond the Grand Tour: Continental Tourism and Travel Writing, 1815-1915 (01/01/2014)

 With the re-opening of borders on the Continent in 1814/15, writers flooded the literary market with works exploring continental tours and experiences.  Invited are submissions for a proposed essay collection concerning the trends and evolutions of travel writing about and within the Continent during the long nineteenth century.

Essays might address gendered travel, narratives determinedly off the beaten paths, Byronic or other ‘celebrity’ tourism, commercialization and mass tourism, genre challenges and boundaries, and the intersections of tourism and travel in many different avenues. Essays will consider the variety of ways in which writers responded to the opening of borders and their accompanying crossings throughout the century, as well as the ways in which familiarity with such Continental landscapes mutated with the development of texts and culture at home and abroad. Authors are invited to submit their essays of approximately 6,500 words, by January 1st, 2014, via email to Dr. Benjamin Colbert (B.Colbert@wlv.ac.uk) and Dr. Lucy Morrison (lxmorrison@salisbury.edu); Palgrave has already expressed an interest in considering the collection. All enquiries are welcome.

Dickens Tours at Highgate Cemetery

£10 for adults and £8 for students

Pay in cash on the day, but book in advance on 020 8340 1834

Highgate Cemetery, a Grade I-listed Victorian cemetery in North London, has just started running special Dickens Tours in honour of the bicentenary. The tours take place every Saturday at 16.30 and last about an hour and a quarter, taking in all of the cemetery's Dickens graves (parents, siblings, wife and daughter) as well as a number of other famous Victorians who played important parts in Dickens's life. It takes in areas of the cemetery not visited on regular tours and aims to provide a picture of Dickens, his connections to Highgate, and the history of the cemetery itself. Tickets cost £10 for adults and £8 for students, paying (in cash) on the day, but spaces should be booked in advance by calling the cemetery on 020 8340 1834.

At the moment tours are running on a trial basis subject to public demand so it would be great to have some enthusiastic Victorianists along! You should be able to book any Saturday throughout the summer but certainly through April, May and perhaps June. More info can be found on the cemetery website,  http://www.highgate-cemetery.org/, or contact Jessica Hindes (PhD student in English, Royal Holloway, University of London):jessica.hindes@gmail.com.