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Poetry flourished among the working classes in in the industrial towns and cities of the North of England during the Victorian period. It was a passion fostered by leading authors such as Charlotte Brontë (whose bicentenary is celebrated this year) and Charles Dickens. Both gave talks at Mechanics’ Institutes. Dickens could poke fun at the worthier aspects of the Institutes - as in his depiction of Dullborough Mechanics Institute in The Uncommercial Traveller – but he was motivated by a serious concern for the preservation of humane values within the rapidly changing townscapes of Victorian England.

The novels of the Brontës, too, stress the significance of education and literature as bulwarks against brutalisation. This talk, from Dr Merrick Burrow, of the University of Huddersfield’s School of Music Humanities and Media, will examine the Brontë-Dickens legacy and look at the importance of literature to the Victorians, and the value of Victorian literature in the present day.

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