Projects per year
Personal profile
Interests
- 19th-century British & Irish literature, esp. Dickens
- Victorian Journalism
- Art History
- History of Photography
- Architectural History
- Museums & Galleries
- Promotion of the Arts
- Northern Ireland politics & society
- Middle Eastern politics & society
- Literature and Imperialism
- The literature of place
- Canadian and Commonwealth literature
- Modern fiction
- World Religions
- Moral & ethical issues
- 19th, 20th and 21st-century history
- Politics and society in the UK, Europe and North America
- Literature, politics & economics in India
My interests are represented through my varied range of activities:
- academic work
- community engagement work
- speaking engagements in the UK and abroad
- broadcasting for the BBC and other media outlets
Particulars
I grew up in Toronto, and have been at Queen's since 1991.
Research Statement
My primary research area is the life and works of Charles Dickens. I am the Principal Editor of the Dickens Letters Project, and an expert analyst of Dickens's letters, manuscripts, and handwriting. I am highly adept at finding new Dickens letters that have never before come to the attention of scholars. I have written and lectured widely on Dickens, his works and his world. I have curated Dickens exhibitions at major institutions, and have made these the substance of my impact cases for presentation to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) evaluation.
Most of my research has used historicist and post-colonial modes of criticism. I am an expert investigator of archival sources, and I have developed new approaches to Dickens's life and work as a result of my findings.I have been appointed to the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives, by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
I have done significant work in bibliography, the interaction between literature and the visual arts, and in textual criticism. I am working on the authoritative critical edition of Dickens's last completed novel, Our Mutual Friend, for Oxford University Press
I have successfully supervised PhDs in the following areas:
- Dickens studies
- 19th-century British writers
- 19th-century Irish literature and culture
- 20th-century Irish literature
- Modern post-colonial fiction & theory
- 19th-century women's travel writing
- The literature of landscape
I would welcome new PhD proposals in the above areas, as well as in
- Film and fiction
- TV adaptations of 18th-century/Victorian fiction
- 20th and 21st-century fiction and poetry
- Textual criticism
- Landscape literature
- The literature of place
Teaching
I have extensive teaching experience in the following areas:
- Dickens
- 19th-century British fiction, poetry and drama
- 19th-century Irish fiction, poetry and drama
- 20th-century British fiction, poetry and drama
- Canadian literature, culture & history
- Commonwealth literature/diasporic English literature
- Romantic literature
- Dystopian literature
- Metafiction
- Autobiography
I currently teach/co-ordinate the following courses at Queen's:
- Stage 1: English in Context: An Introduction to Contemporary Fiction
- Stage 2: Dickens and the Cult of Celebrity
- Stage 3: Televising the Victorians; English Dissertation
- MA: Dickens in Context
Achievements
I currently hold a two public appointments:
- The Advisory Council on National Records and Archives
- Board Member and Chair of the Audit & Risk Assurance Committee for National Museums Northern Ireland
From 2014 to 2019 I was a Board Member & Chair of Finance & Capital Committee for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
I am a Board Member of the Charles Dickens Museum in London. I have expert knowledge of the institution's collection of 100,000 objects, and I contribute in the areas of collections development, education, interpretation, public engagement, finance, and operations.
I previously held a Government appointment as a Board Member of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council, and served as Chair of the organisation's Victims Committee, responsible for distributing £12 million of Government funding to Victims and Survivors Groups.
I recently completed a report for the Governments in Northern Ireland and India on Demonetisation and Emerging Challenges. The project was funded through a £25,000 grant from the Northern Ireland Dept for the Economy.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 2 Active
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Charles Dickens écrit sur l’épidémie de diphtérie en 1856 et cela a un air de déjà vu: Charles Dickens writes about the diphtheria epidemic in 1856 and it has an air of déjà vu
Litvack, L., 29 Jan 2021, Passéisme.Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
Open Access -
Charles Dickens escribió sobre la crisis de la difteria de 1856 (y todo suena muy familiar)
Litvack, L., 22 Jan 2021, In: The Conversation.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open Access -
Charles Dickens: newly discovered documents reveal truth about his death and burial: This piece was read 121,000 times in The Conversation and its syndicated publications in 2020. there were also 223,000 radditional eads from Yahoo News UK (not reported to the Conversation dashboard).
Litvack, L., 04 Feb 2020, In: The Conversation.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open AccessFile79 Downloads (Pure) -
Charles Dickens and Westminster Abbey: The Elusive Times Leader of 13 June 1870
Litvack, L., 01 May 2020, In: The Dickensian. 116, 1, p. 49-53 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Charles Dickens wrote about the diphtheria crisis of 1856 – and it all sounds very familiar
Litvack, L., 27 Dec 2020, The Conversation.Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
1 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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The Continuing Relevance of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four: BBC Radio Ulster, 9 June 2019
Litvack, L. (Creator), BBC Radio Ulster, 09 Jun 2019
Dataset
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Thought for the Day: Shavuot and Pentecost, BBC Radio Ulster 7 June 2019
Litvack, L. (Creator), BBC Radio Ulster, 07 Jun 2019
Dataset
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Thought for the Day: Dickens's David Copperfield, and the Scott Antarctic Expedition BBC Radio Ulster 21 June 2019
Litvack, L. (Creator), BBC Radio Ulster, 21 Jun 2019
Dataset
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Thought for the Day: Van Gogh and Dickens BBC Radio Ulster 14 June 2019
Litvack, L. (Creator), BBC Radio Ulster, 14 Jun 2019
Dataset
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Leon Litvack interview with John Jordan of the Dickens Project re: Dickens photographic portrait exhibition
Litvack, L. (Creator), Queen's University Belfast, 28 May 2019
Dataset
Prizes
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Advisory Council on National Records and Archives
Litvack, Leon (Recipient), 31 Oct 2019
Prize: Appointment
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Eaton Fellow, University of New Brunswick, 2015
Litvack, Leon (Recipient), Jun 2015
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
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Queen's University Faculty Research Grant Incentivisation Scheme
Litvack, Leon (Recipient), 26 Jan 2018
Prize: Other distinction
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UK Forum on Historical Manuscripts and Research
Litvack, Leon (Recipient), 18 Nov 2019
Prize: Appointment
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Visiting Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Litvack, Leon (Recipient), 17 Sep 2018
Prize: Appointment
Activities
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Manorial Documents Register Conference 2022
Leon Litvack (Organiser)
06 Sep 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
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Roundtable: Nineteenth-Century Archives and Handwriting in the Digital Age (250 attendees)
Leon Litvack (Invited speaker)
04 Mar 2021Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited or keynote talk at national or international conference
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Dickens in the Eye of the Beholder: Photographic Portraits and the Cultivation of Celebrity
Leon Litvack (Invited speaker)
03 Mar 2021Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
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Editing Our Mutual Friend with Juxta
Leon Litvack (Invited speaker)
18 Feb 2021Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited or keynote talk at national or international conference
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The Letters of Charles Dickens: An Editor's Perspective
Leon Litvack (Keynote speaker)
25 Jan 2021Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
Press/Media
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Video Game Opens New Chapter for Dickens: The TImes, 12 October 2023
12/10/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Zadie Smith: I couldn't escape Charles Dickens -- so I killed him: The Times, 6 July 2023
06/07/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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‘Astonishing’ 3D scans reveal Titanic shipwreck in extraordinary new detail: Washington Post, 18 May 2023
18/05/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Charles Dickens letter triggers hunt for mystery Molière painting: The Times, 10 April 2023
10/04/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Dickens video game: ABC Radio Australia, 16 Feb 2023
16/02/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
Impact
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Bringing Dickens to Ireland: the 2012 Festival
Leon Litvack (Participant)
Impact: Economic Impact, Quality of Life Impact, Societial Impact, Cultural Impact, Other Impact
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