(CNN) -- Charles Dickens, who was born 200 years ago this week, created some of the best-known and most loved figures in English literature, from Oliver Twist and David Copperfield to Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch. But of all the characters he wrote about, none played as important a role in his work as that of London itself: its hustle and bustle, its glittering promise and grimy streets and the extremes of poverty and wealth experienced by those who lived there. Alex Werner, the curator of the Museum of London's "Dickens and London" exhibition, says the city was "absolutely central" to Dickens' work.
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Author Charles Dickens born 200 years ago this week
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Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol author took much inspiration from London
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Dickens' ties to the city are celebrated in a new Museum of London exhibition
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Dickens 2012 celebrations also planned elsewhere in the world
To mark the Dickens bicentenary, the cemetery is hosting @placeholder tours.