Paul Schlicke, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Aberdeen, has served as President of the Dickens Society of America and the International Dickens Fellowship. He is currently chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Charles Dickens Museum in London.

Peter Ackroyd is a renowned novelist, critic and biographer. He has written 13 novels, including Hawksmoor, The Fall of Troy and Chatterton, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987. His biographies include works on Dickens, William Blake and Shakespeare.