Biography
I was educated at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, Canterbury 1953-61 and at Jesus College, Oxford, 1961-66 and 1969-73 during which periods I completed the degrees of B. A. (Hons. in English, M.A., B. Phil. (Nineteenth-Century English Literature) and D. Phil. with a thesis on the works of Charles Dickens.
Theatre
- 1977-1979 Director, Alexander Theatre, Monash University
- Jul 1981-Feb 1982 Acting Chairman, Alexander Theatre Committee, Monash University
- 2010- Committee member, Victoria Drama League.
- I have also appeared in more than fifty plays in amateur theatre from 1957-2011, notably at Monash University and for the Adelphi Players, Encore Theatre Company and Mordialloc Theatre Company.
Other activities
- 1981-1984 President, Melbourne Dickens Fellowship
- 1987-1990 Hon. Secretary, Melbourne Dickens Fellowship
- 1997-2000 President, Melbourne Dickens Fellowship
- 2003-2006 President, Melbourne Dickens Fellowship
- 2009 Percy Fitzgerald Award for Meritous Service, International Dickens Fellowship.
Research
Research Fellowships
1969-1973 Canada Council Fellowship, held at Oxford University
1979-1980 Visiting Fellow, Rutherford College, University of Kent at Canterbury, England.
Graduate supervisions
- 10 Ph.D.s and 7 M.A.s supervised to successful completion since 2000.
Current research
On Dickens:
- Dickens and Scandinavia
- Dickens to Harrison Ainsworth: A Newly-Discovered Letter.
- On Letters of Elizabeth Hussey Gould: from Dickens, Crabbe and Carlyle.
On Shakespeare:
- “Who Was W. Har.?”
- “Memorial Reconstruction by Actors: the State of Play”
- “Shakespeare’s involvement in The Passionate Pilgrim”
- “Shakespeare’s Handwriting.”
Publications
I have written one hundred and fifty scholarly articles and reviews between 1967 and 2011. Editions include Sydney Conference Papers, 1975, A.V.S.A., Wellington, 1976, 53 pp.; The Brief Abstract and Record: ANZSA Newsletter Nos. 1-4, November 1990 to June 1992; The Dickens Newsletter Melbourne Monthly, Nos. 98 to 327, August 1991 to date; Directions 1993: Collected Essays, with introduction, Education Essentials, Melbourne, 1993; Directions 1994, with introduction, Education Essentials, Melbourne, 1994
Publication titles include:
- Dilnot, A. (2005) Down Under with Dickens: Selected Papers, International Dickens Conference, Melbourne 2004. Melbourne, Melbourne Dickens Fellowship, 2005
- Dilnot, A. (2005) ‘Dickens and Australia’, The Japan Branch Bulletin of the Dickens Fellowship, No. 28, October. Pages 110-121.
- Dilnot, A. (2003) ‘The Christianity of A Tale of Two Cities’, The Dickens Magazine, Seriers 3, No. 1, December. Pages 12-14.
- Dilnot, A. (2000) ‘John Donne: ‘Death and the Lover’ and ‘Death and the Sinner’”, mETAphor, Issue 3 2000, July. pages 58-60, 64.
- Dilnot, A. (1999) “Continuing Jane Austen”, Observations, Vol 2, August. Pages 44-56.
I have also written and presented fifty-three educational videotapes on literature between 1987 and 2004, mostly 35 mins. or 50 mins.
Teaching
- 1965-1966 Tutor, University College, Buckland.
- 1966-1969 Lecturer, Dept. of English, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C., Canada.
- 1970-1972 Tutor, Jesus College, Oxford.
- 1973-2010 Lecturer and Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.