Philip Pullman has recently shown his support for a scheme to raise a new interest in the works of Charles Dickens. The Dickens International Drama Challenge, set up by author Peter Mieville, was officially started on the 7th of February, the 199th anniversary of the author’s birth, at his grave in Westminster Abbey.

The idea behind the challenge is for groups of schoolchildren to re-imagine a scene from any of Dickens’ works and put it on stage.

“It will be a opportunity for 
school children to look at Dickens’s work and interpret it in their own ways,” Mr Mieville said.

To contact Mr Mieville about the Dickens International Drama Challenge email dmprods@yahoo.co.uk