The Forty-Seventh Annual Dickens Society Meeting

The forty-seventh annual Dickens Society business meeting was called to order on 11 July 2016 at 11:00 AM by President Iain Crawford, who welcomed members and thanked the symposium host institution, The University of Iceland. The minutes from the previous year were approved and officers gave reports.

Secretary-Treasurer Diana Archibald noted that the 2016 Society’s individual membership numbers (171) are up slightly since last year (168), and have steadily increased over the last decade (with the exception of the spike in 2013 due to the bicentenary). She reported that last year’s introduction of several outreach initiatives, including increased participation at regional and international conferences, launching a new website and social media campaign, and publicizing the Partlow Prize more widely, seem to be yielding positive results.

Our financial situation has improved significantly, with the Society earning a profit for the first time since 2011. The move to publishing Dickens Quarterly through Johns Hopkins University Press, a transition that took a few years to manage, is now bearing fruit. The Press forecasts a modest rise next year in subscriptions revenues and projected income from Project Muse, after which they expect our revenue stream to hold steady. Archibald submitted the preliminary Fiscal Year 2016 financial report for discussion and the final 2016 report is included in the next section. Financial records are audited by the Dickens Society Audit Committee: Iain Crawford, Natalie McKnight, and Rob Jacklosky.

Associate editor Trey Philpotts reported on the Dickens Quarterly, noting the success of the arrangements with JHUP. Even though there has been a decline in institutional membership numbers, the journal’s availability via Project Muse has increased our reach. He also noted the need to continue outreach efforts to solicit high-quality submissions, and invited members both to contribute and to promote our journal in other arenas.

Emily Bowles, Communications Committee chair, reported on the success of our social media efforts. Under her leadership a group of four graduate students and an independent scholar live tweeted the symposium <twitter.com/dickens_society> and planned to produce both a final report about the symposium and blog posts for a new part of our Society website <dickenssociety.org>. Additionally, our Facebook page is active and growing a loyal following. She announced a new collaboration between the Dickens Society and Placing Literature, an online interactive mapping site where the Society will be developing the Charles Dickens Collection, gathering information about a series of locations important to Dickens’s novels. Those who are interested in participating in this initiative or in other social media efforts were encouraged to contact Emily Bowles <emily.bowles@york.ac.uk>.

Next, we heard reports from symposia organizers. Last year’s host, Sara Malton, sent an account of the Liquid Dickens Halifax symposium. The original organizer of the 2016 Adapting Dickens symposium in Reykjavik, Martin Regal, was unable to attend the symposium, and Diana Archibald welcomed delegates on his behalf and thanked the administration at the University of Iceland for their support. The 2017 symposium, Interdisciplinary Dickens, will be held in Boston, Massachusetts, to be hosted by Natalie McKnight’s home institution, Boston University, and the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning. In 2018 our symposium will take place in Cardiff, Wales. Some discussion ensued about potential sites for 2019 and 2020, and there will be an announcement about future venues once locations are confirmed.

An election followed. A slate of new trustees was put forward by the nominating committee [Natalie McKnight (chair), Sean Grass, Wendy Parkins, David Paroissien, Leslie Simon], and members voted unanimously to approve them: Trustees (term ending 2019): Holly Furneaux (Cardiff University), Claire Wood (University of York), Juliet John (Royal Holloway, University of London), and Susan Cook (Southern New Hampshire University); and Secretary-Treasurer Diana Archibald (University of Massachusetts Lowell) for a second term. The members expressed appreciation for the four outgoing trustees: Marie-Amélie Coste, André Decuir, Norbert Lennartz, and Sara Malton.

Finally, we discussed funding allocations and priorities for the Society now that we have a small disposable income available. A request for funding support by the Retrospect Opera was debated and...