Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

The poem below (first published by Black Bough Poetry) by co-facilitator Caroline Hammond was inspired by A Christmas Carol following her arrival in the UK from her native Canada. John Leech’s illustration of Want and Ignorance is from the original edition of the book, published in 1843.

The New Arrival

In film versions of A Christmas Carol,

that final morning is always ankle-deep,

so I thought snow was a given and wasn’t prepared

for five months of November, or the damp

that would coat my lungs like peppermint.

Just once that first year, on Westminster Bridge,

a few flakes blew up the river like ropes of geese

and I waited for one cold petal kiss

to hit my face then headed for the crowds

of night buses in Trafalgar Square. 

Readers are often drawn to the Lit Salon when they want to challenge themselves and tackle a text that they would hesitate to read on their own.  But other books perform a different function – stories we have known from childhood and come back to again and again to find comfort and pleasure in the familiar.

As 2021 comes to a close, Jane and Caroline are inviting readers, over four weeks in December, to join them in reading A Christmas Carol.  In this study, the emphasis will be on reading together and sharing experience of the text. This is certainly not a study restricted to those who have read the book, A Christmas Carol is a cultural touchstone for so many people – even if Kermit the Frog is your Bob Cratchit, please come along and join the fun. 

We are asking readers to donate to Life After Hummus, a community benefit society local to the Salon base in Kentish Town.  Please see the website here for further information about their work. 

Payment:  While we want to raise as much money as possible for Life After Hummus, we’d also like to make this study available to as wide an audience as possible, regardless of financial means. We are also aware that readers may already be committed to supporting other charities at this time of year. For this reason we’re leaving the amount unspecified, asking people to set their own donation. 

Salon Details:

• Facilitated by Jane Wymark and Caroline Hammond
• Four meeting study, Wednesday 1 December to Wednesday 22 December 2021, 6-8.00 pm (GMT)
• All payments will be donated to Life After Hummus