2024
September: “The Love and Lore of the Seaside in Jane Austen’s Time”
Award-winning novelist Julie Klassen will present highlights from her research into English seaside resorts and bathing customs of the Regency era: the popularity of resort towns and their social activities, bathing machines, beliefs about the medicinal value of sea bathing—and even the drinking of sea water! This research provides the framework for The Sisters of Sea View, book one in the On Devonshire Shores series, set in Sidmouth, Devon. Julie will also describe the interesting events surrounding the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Kent and their baby daughter (the future Queen Victoria) who appear in book two, A Winter by the Sea. Reading the books would be helpful but is entirely optional. Talk followed by Q & A.
“Jane Austen fans will delight in this series from Klassen . . . and be eager for the next installment.”
—Publishers Weekly starred review of The Sisters of Sea View
JULIE KLASSEN is an award-winning author of nineteen historical novels, which have sold more than one and a half million copies. She is a longtime member of JASNA and enjoys traveling to England to research her books whenever she can. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full-time. Julie and her husband live in St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information, visit www.julieklassen.com.
June: “Jane Austen’s Escapist Readers” with Jason D. Solinger
Escapism gets a bad rap, and over the years Jane Austen’s most devoted readers have been maligned as some of the worst escapists. In this lively Zoom presentation, Dr. Jason Solinger surveyed 20th-century escapist readings of Austen and makes the unpopular case for escaping with Austen. What is it about Austen’s fiction that lends itself to escape? And what does it mean to escape anyway?
Jason D. Solinger is an associate professor of English at the University of Mississippi (UM), where he serves as director of English Graduate Studies and faculty advisor to the UM Hillel. He specializes in the literature and culture of the long eighteenth century. His research interests include the early novel, the politics of taste, masculinity studies and the history of criticism. He has published articles on such topics as eighteenth-century journalism, the rhetoric of cosmopolitanism, and the afterlives of Jane Austen. His book, Becoming the Gentleman, part of Palgrave Macmillan’s Global Masculinities series, explains why men and women in the eighteenth century were haunted by the question of what it meant to be a gentleman. He is currently working on a book about the entangled histories of reading Jane Austen and the discipline of literary studies.
March: “How Happy Are Jane Austen’s Endings Anyway?” with Inger S. B. Brodey
Inger Brodey’s forthcoming book, Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness, tries to untangle the purpose behind Austen’s oddly rushed endings. Many scholars and other readers have noted how her tone and style changes at the end of her novels; however, few have given Austen credit for having chosen these endings deliberately for her own purposes. Brodey attempts to answer this puzzle drawing on evidence from Austen’s opus as a whole, as well as from the habits of authors whom Austen knew.
Inger S. B. Brodey is an award-winning professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she teaches “Global Jane Austen” among other courses. She’s the founder and director of the annual Jane Austen Summer Program (JaneAustenSummer.org) and co-host of the Jane Austen and Co. web series (jaandco.org). As far as her JASNA involvement, she has served on the board of directors of JASNA, twice been a traveling lecturer, twice won the national essay contest, and twice been the JASNA North American Scholar lecturer at an AGM. Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness (Johns Hopkins University Press) will be published in June 2024. You can read more about Brodey at www.ingerbrodey.com.
February: Valentine’s Eve with Jane Austen
Celebrate Valentine’s Eve by joining other NorCal Janeites to watch proposal scenes from various cinematic realizations of Jane Austen’s novels, then share in a lively discussion. In the novels, the proposal scenes are brief, asking the reader to fill in the details. How do the film scenes match your imagined ones?
2023
December: “A Jane Austen Birthday Gala”
First Presentation: “Jane Austen in Latin America – Almost 20 Years Down the Road”
Presenter Amy Elizabeth Smith will discuss taking Jane Austen on the road in Latin America and how travel and marriage to one of her Latin America reading group members changed her life. As Austen’s 250th birthday year approaches, we continue to recover from a pandemic in a writing world rocked by Artificial Intelligence. Amy explores whether there is still room for adventures with this timeless writer.
Amy Elizabeth Smith teaches creative and professional writing at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. From July 2006 to August 2007, Amy traveled through Latin America and held Jane Austen reading groups in Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina. In 2012, she published All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane. She’s a lifetime JASNA member and met fabulous Janeites across the US on her book tour. She recently edited a Native American Vietnam veteran’s memoir, My Spiritual Walk as a Wolfhound: A Grunt in Vietnam, by Joseph Maes. She’s originally from the Pittsburgh, PA area (Go Steelers!).
Second Presentation: “Epistolary Echoes: Letters in Jane Austen’s Novels”
NorCal JASNA’s own Julianna Scott Fein will examine the tradition of the epistolary form, assess its impact on Jane Austen’s early experiments in the form, and discuss some ways in which the style influenced her writing by analyzing letters in key points in each of Austen’s novels.
Julianna received her master’s in English Literature from San Francisco State University. “Epistolary Echoes” is extracted from her master’s thesis, which she worked on closely with Professor Steve Arkin, the long-serving and much-respected chair of the English Department, who spoke to JASNA NorCal at least a dozen times in the past. She is Co-Regional Coordinator of JASNA NorCal.
September: “The Women of the Regency: A ‘Revolution . . . Almost Beyond Expression'”
In addition to Jane Austen and Mary Shelley, Robert Morrison’s talk will focus on the many women who made a significant contribution to the Regency, including Francis Burney, Mary Prince, Lady Hester Stanhope, Maria Graham, Elizabeth Fry, and Sarah Siddons.
Robert Morrison is British Academy Global Professor at Bath Spa University. He is the author of The Regency Years, which was shortlisted for the Historical Writers Association Crown Award and named by The Economist as one of its 2019 Books of the Year. His biography of Thomas De Quincey, The English Opium Eater, was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize in 2010. Morrison edited De Quincey’s Selected Writings for Oxford University Press and Austen’s Persuasion for Harvard University Press.
June: “Why Mr. Collins? The Church and Clergy in Jane Austen’s Novels”
Members joined our speaker Brenda Cox for an illustrated talk with group participation. Jane Austen had a high regard for the church. Why, then, did she present Mr. Collins as a buffoon? How did he get his position as rector, and what were his “rights” and responsibilities? Edmund Bertram, clergyman-hero of Mansfield Park, upholds the importance of the clergy, but says that some failed in their duties; was Mr. Collins one of those? We explored Mr. Collins’s actions and explain his words, comparing them to Austen’s ideals of the Church of England clergy, her examples in the other novels, and cartoons satirizing the clergy of the time.
Brenda S. Cox has spent years researching the church in Austen’s England, visiting English churches and reading hundreds of books and articles, including many written by Austen’s contemporaries. She contributes to Persuasions On-Line, Jane Austen’s World and Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen. She is also the author of Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England.
March: “Becoming William Price and Captain Wentworth: Charles Austen’s Naval Career in Relation to Mansfield Park and Persuasion“
Members joined us for a talk by Sheila Johnson Kindred, author of Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister: the Life and Letters of Fanny Palmer Austen. This talk focused on how aspects of Charles’ career as a young trainee officer resonate with the portrayal of William Price. The speaker addressed Austen’s understanding of the contingencies of promotion in the navy, how Charles’ promotion to commander came about, and how Austen uses William Price’s stalemated career to move the plot of Mansfield Park along. She also discussed Frederick Wentworth’s naval story and how Austen wove into Persuasion contextual details which reflect actual naval events and practices of the period, a discussion which includes reference to naval prize taking and prize money.
Sheila Johnson Kindred taught for many years in the philosophy department of St Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada. She has lectured on aspects of Jane Austen’s family and fiction in Canada, United States, Bermuda, Australia, and England, and she published fifteen articles on Austen related topics.
February: A Jane Austen Valentine’s Day Celebration
Members celebrated Valentine’s Day by joining their fellow Janeites in exploring the romance of Jane Austen’s novels.
The evening’s entertainment consisted of three parts:
- A short presentation by Anne Krause on how Valentine’s Day was celebrated in the Regency.
- Group discussion of several love poems by some of Austen’s favorite poets, including Cowper, Byron, and one by Jane herself.
- Group discussion sharing romantic moments and passages in Austen’s novels beginning with a brief but deep dive into Captain Wentworth’s “half-agony, half-hope” letter.
Click here for copies of the poems.
2022
December: The Twelve Days of a Regency Christmas
Historian Kim Wilson explored how the Twelve Days of Christmas were celebrated in Jane Austen’s day, including traditional Georgian and Regency holiday activities and games. She shared recipes for making a Twelfth Night Cake and a Wassail bowl so attendees could plan their own Jane Austen holiday celebration. The presentation was followed by a birthday toast to
Jane and a short chapter business meeting.
Kim Wilson is a freelance historian, writer, and speaker. She is the award-winning author of At Home with Jane Austen, Tea with Jane Austen, and In the Garden with Jane Austen. She is a traveling lecturer for the Jane Austen Society of North America for 2022–2023. She has been a featured lecturer for the Royal Oak Foundation (the American partner of the National Trust of England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and Road Scholar, and was the keynote speaker for the 2020 Chawton House Virtual Garden Festival. She is currently writing Entertaining Mr. Darcy, and Celebrating Jane Austen’s Birthday for the series Celebrating the Year with Jane Austen with co-author Jo Ann Staples.
October: Jane Austen and the Oxford English Dictionary
Ted Adams explained what “baseball,” “midgety,” “itty,” and “door-bell” all have in common: These are words that have been credited by the Oxford English Dictionary (the OED) to Jane Austen as the first user in English of these words. The OED seeks to fully document the English language and its usage, current and historic. One of the more interesting aspects of the OED is the attempt to identify for each word in the dictionary its first use in English. Looking at where Jane Austen was at the cutting edge of language provides new insights both in regards to Jane and in regards to English.
Ted joined JASNA in 1984 and has been a life member since 1998. He conducted a breakout session at the 1996 Richmond AGM on men’s clothing during Jane Austen’s life time.
June: All the Noise about “Dead Silence!”: A Fresh Look at Austen and Slavery
Collins Hemingway traced the likely development of Austen’s attitudes on slavery, particularly the influence of her evangelical brother Frank. He also gave an overview of issues plus a detailed analysis of critical passages in Mansfield Park while challenging the “received opinion” of major critics.
Hemingway has lectured on Jane Austen and the Regency era in the U.S., England, and Australia. He presented at the 2018 and 2019 AGMs and spoke by video at the 2020 AGM. He has published in Persuasions and in the journals of the Australian society. He is a regular contributor to Jane Austen’s Regency World. He authored The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen, literary fiction based on Austen’s life. Many of his talks are part of a collection of essays he is creating on Austen’s development as a writer.
If you were unable to attend this event, a recording will be posted for a limited time. Please refer back for updates on its posting.
March: Making a Jane Austen Musical
Tony Award-nominated composer Paul Gordon and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s artistic director emeritus Robert Kelley, discussed their just-opened musical Sense and Sensibility and their previous acclaimed collaborations on Emma and Pride and Prejudice.
If you were unable to attend this event, you can watch it here: https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/fv0k93Pf4SbgXye13-tRrTSfAQvWao9Dv8glja24BxvdEijvcwhp1dvKGUfbIqoZ.Maeao9iYv2_PM9Ss
Passcode: JAf@d1r^
2021
December: Jane Austen Birthday Gala
Join us for a conversation with teacher-scholar Ben Wiebracht and his students about an exciting new book release, Bath: An Adumbration in Rhyme, A Critical Edition for Readers of Jane Austen (Pixelia Publishing, 2021).
Originally published in 1795 by the minor poet John Matthews, “Bath: An Adumbration in Rhyme” is a satirical poem that offers a lively picture of a typical day in the Georgian resort town, just such a day as Catherine Morland or Austen herself would have lived many times over. Ben and his students have crafted a new edition of the poem specifically designed for Austen readers, complete with helpful notes and a new introduction on how Austen revolutionized the genre of the “Bath satire.”
The discussion will also focus on the classroom project that gave rise to the book. Ben and his students will share how they dreamed up the project in the first place and how they managed to pull it together in a single academic year – from the preliminary research to the cover design. In the end, we hope this event starts a larger conversation about the role of the rising generation in enriching our understanding of Jane Austen.
Attendees are encouraged, but not required, to browse the book before our meeting. A free e-text is available at pixeliapublishing.org. Print and e-book versions are also available through the publisher web site.
About the Speakers
Ben Wiebracht is an English teacher at Stanford Online High School and a scholar specializing in nineteenth-century British literature. His work has appeared in numerous academic journals, and he also teaches classes on nineteenth century authors, including Jane Austen, for Stanford Continuing Studies.
Ben is the co-founder, along with fellow English teacher Dr. Thomas Hendrickson, of Pixelia Publishing, a new platform for original scholarship by teachers and high-school students working in concert. Bath: An Adumbration in Rhyme, co-edited by Ben and seven of his students, is Pixelia’s second release and the first volume in a planned series on Jane Austen’s contemporaries.
Varsha Venkatram is a freshman at Georgetown University currently studying business. She lives in San Jose, California, and is hoping to minor in English or Global Affairs.
Kate Snyder is a student at Mount Holyoke College, where she hopes to major in English. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sophia Romagnoli is a senior at Stanford Online High School. She lives just outside of New York City, and is interested in comparative literature and languages.
Macy Maurer Levin is a senior at Stanford Online High school with academic interests in astrophysics, philosophy, and English. She lives in Concord, Massachusetts.
September: A Virtual Regency Salon
Our fun virtual salon event included a Persuasion-themed trivia bingo (there were prizes!). JASNA members had priority for registering for the event.
“The Regency Is A Bit Blacker Than In The Movies” — Reframing the Conversation around Historical Accuracy and Racial Inclusivity in Austen Adaptations/Regency Films & Television
Saturday, June 12: 2:30 pm – 4 pm (PDT)
Most Austen or Regency-set films and television shows are judged by how historically accurate the work appears to be. This socially constructed idea is an inadequate metric for productions featuring diverse casting or BIPOC history during the Regency Era. This virtual presentation from Amanda-Rae Prescott will discuss how recent productions such as Bridgerton, Mr. Malcolm’s List, and the upcoming Persuasion adaptation prioritize other forms of realism and creative storytelling to challenge viewers to expand their perception of the world around Austen.
t Amanda-Rae Prescott: Amanda-Rae Prescott is a freelance pop culture journalist from Brooklyn, NY, specializing in tracking UK period dramas and advocacy for expanded racial diversity on screen and in fandom. Her articles reviewing period dramas and other UK TV shows have previously appeared on Den Of Geek, GBH Boston, Doctor Who Magazine, and several podcasts. She is a featured panelist for Virtual Jane Con 2021 and other Jane Austen fandom events. Online she can be found at http://amandaraeprescott.com/ and on Twitter @amandarprescott
Northanger Abbey Talk and Discussion
Saturday, March 20: 2 pm – 4 pm (PDT)
We will be watching “The Words and Wisdom of Northanger Abbey,” a breakout talk by Devoney Looser from the 2019 AGM, and will follow it with a discussion of the talk and the novel.
Talk description: Northanger Abbey was famously first titled Susan, but did you know it was labeled romance? Or that it and Persuasion were mistaken for one long work? Learn more about Austen’s genius by single word and witty sentence with this image-filled presentation, plus “nice” discussion of women, history, romance, and reading.
2020
December: A Toast to Jane Austen
| From the Page to the Stage We will open with the panel discussion “Theatrically Yours, Jane Austen,” featuring theater professionals from across the country who have firsthand understanding of taking Austen from the page to the stage. The panel will be moderated by JASNA Central California Regional Coordinator Heather Parish, executive director of the Rogue Performance Festival in Fresno, Calif. |  |
| Featured panelists will be: • Brooke Aiello—a professional actor, costume designer and professor of theater at California State University Fresno and Fresno Pacific University, where she specializes in period acting styles. She has directed Michael Bloom’s adaptation of Emma and costumed Lauren Gunderson & Margot Melton’s Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley. • Hana Sharif—artistic director for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. She directed Kate Hamill’s Sense and Sensibility for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in addition to other acclaimed productions of Pride and Prejudice, The Christians and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. • Nandita Sheno—an actor-writer who lives in New York City. Her full-length play Lyme Park: An Austonian Romance of an Indian Nature was produced by the Hegira at the Round House Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland. • Amy Stallings—a professor of history at the College of William and Mary. She is also an actor and historical interpreter with Colonial Williamsburg. Her adaptation of Northanger Abbey was produced by the Williamsburg Players in 2019. |
| Original Theatrical Presentation The panel will be followed by an original theatrical presentation by Carissa Meagher, a playwright, actor, director and theater instructor. She holds a BFA in acting from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and an MFA in playwriting from Ireland’s RADA affiliate school. Her one-act play Written Off was produced at The Lir Academy and her thesis play, California, was featured in Dublin’s Fringe Festival. In 2019, Sacramento Theatre Company opened its 75th Anniversary Season with her play Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. |
| Social Time with the Janeites Following the panel and theatrical presentation, join us for some camaraderie and good spirits as we play together with Austen Adaptations Trivia, an Austen-themed scavenger hunt and a Zoom costume contest. So gather your Austen goodies and your best cap for visiting and enjoy some afternoon fun with fellow Janeites! |
Autumn Virtual Events
We had several virtual regional events during the Fall season:
Sunday September 27: 3–4 pm, Summer Regency Sew-A-Long Show and Tell
Saturday October 24: 4–5 pm, Tea Time Discussion: Northanger Abbey adaptations
Saturday November 7: 3–4 pm, Tea Time Discussion: Emma (2020) vs. Clueless
Please note: We are on a Zoom Pro account, so our meetings have a 100 participant cap. Some discussions and meetups will be kept smaller for the sake of organization. Because of that, we will be sending JASNA members in the region event RSVP information first. If you are not a JASNA member, make sure you update your membership info now. If we still have open spaces for capped meetings, we may send RSVP info to newsletter subscribers as time allows.
Summer Regency Sew-a-Long: June – September
Sunday, June 21, 2–4 pm
Summer Virtual Regency Picnic
July 25, 1–3 pm
Join JASNA NorCal for a virtual Regency picnic. We will start with a pre-recorded presentation viewable on the JASNA NorCal Facebook Page (you do not have to have an account to watch there). Julie Buck, Agnes Gawne and J McLean Sloughter from Puget Sound JASNA Region will be the presenters, discussing Regency food and history. We will then follow with a chat and Q&A with the presenters and end with a show-and-tell of Regency recipes from the audience.
Schedule of events:
1–2 pm: Screening of presentations to Facebook
2–2:30 pm: Zoom chat/Q&A
2:30–3 pm: People can share their Regency food stories
Tickets for the Zoom chat and Q&A are limited and will go out to JASNA members via e-mail on a first-come, first-serve basis, then to non-members on our mailing list.
The Program:
The Food Program the JASNA Puget Sound region originally presented in 2016 was to be a tasting menu of food that might have been served at the supper for The Netherfield Ball. There is little information in the book as to what was served other than White Soup that Nicholls was prevailed upon to make in sufficient quantities.
Julie Buck‘s dish, Collar’d Beef, was found in Cooking in the Archives website. Collaring beef, or any other meat, is highly seasoned, then rolled and bound together to hold the tight roll, and cooked. She said it was easy and delicious.
McLean Sloughter will discuss two aspects of Regency-era baking: the raised pie (also called a game pie) and the wedding cake. We start with the savory: a history of the meat pie, and what it looked like in Regency England. Then we delve into the sweet: the traditional wedding cake of the Regency era is what we now call a fruit cake. We will discuss the origins of this style of cake, and the changing traditions around wedding baked goods in Austen’s time.
Agnes Gawne has been a lifelong student of history with a focus on fashion and food in the Regency period. She was delighted to research White Soup (a dish mentioned by Mr. Bingley in Pride and Prejudice) for the Puget Sound region food program in the summer of 2016. She will share her presentation again with us and only wishes she could share the actual soup again as it was tasty and fun to make.
Meet Your Speakers:
Julie Buck has been a member of JASNA in the Puget Sound Region since 2011. As Newsletter Editor and then Program Coordinator, Julie has been on the regional board almost since her first days as a member. As of January, she is the RC for the Puget Sound Region, and since March, she’s been scrambling to provide a way for members to stay in touch and make it through the pandemic safe and sound.
McLean Sloughter is a statistics professor by trade, a baker by hobby and lineage, and a long-time Austen fan. He is a part of the Puget Sound JASNA region, where he has contributed to multiple presentations on Regency foods, and he helped organize the 2017 JaneFest in Seattle.
Agnes Gawne was first exposed to Jane Austen in the back seat of her husband’s car. Bet that got your attention! A paperback copy of Pride and Prejudice was on the backseat, so she picked it up to read while she was waiting for my husband (then boyfriend) to come out of work. A few years later, about 1992, Danine Cozzens invited her to attend a December meeting of JASNA NorCal at San Francisco State University. She has been a member of JASNA since and even served as programming coordinator for the Puget Sound region for two years followed by six years as the Regional Coordinator. Agnes has been a lecturer in fashion history at a small school in Seattle for 20 years and make a living as a data analyst for a prostate cancer research database at the University of Washington.
Virtual Tea Time
Saturday, June 27, 4 – 6 pm
Theme: Jane Austen Movie Adaptations
What adaptations are your favorites? Are you a fan of musicals, modernizations or mini-series? Join JASNA NorCal for a Virtual Tea Time on June 27 from 4–6 pm, when we’ll be talking about our favorite big (and small) screen adaptations. How do you sign up? Make sure your JASNA membership is up-to-date. We will have limited space and the Zoom information will be going out to the members newsletter first.
2019
Annual Jane Austen Birthday Gala
Saturday, December 7, 11:00 am–4:00 pm
Jane Austen Sequels and Adaptations
The Bellevue Club, 4th floor Mural Lounge
525 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland
This is also an election year for our local board, so we will be holding formal elections at this meeting. If you have questions or would like to run for an open position, email rc@jasnanorcal.org.
Saturday, September 21, 1:00–3:00 pm
The Art and Afterlife of Sense and Sensibility
Masonic Lodge
100 N Ellsworth Ave., San Mateo
Jane Austen scholar Dr. Devoney Looser will offer a deep dive into the words, images, and pop-culture afterlife of Austen’s trailblazing book, with its focus on twos and threes, loves and losses, and strong second chances.
Held in coordination with the BAERS Sense and Sensibility Ball that evening in the same venue, from 8–11:30 pm. Tickets are available from BAERS: baers.org/index.html#baerscal
Saturday, June 29, 1:00–4:00 pm
Regency Food in Social Context
The Alta Mira Club
561 Lafayette Ave., San Leandro
From Bath Buns to white soup, what did people eat and drink in the Regency era? Special guest Amira K. Makansi, author of Literary Libations, will examine how to party Austen style, with food and drink of the day. Plus, our own Sheri Forbes on Jane’s friend Martha Lloyd and her cookbook, and former RC Anne Krause on the role of food in the novels. Bring a special dish to share at our tea table.
Saturday, March 9, 1:00–3:00 pm
Opera in Concert: Kirk Mechem’s Pride and Prejudice
San Mateo Public Library
55 West 3rd Street, San Mateo
A lecture/performance featuring the composer, Maestro Erik K of the Redwood Symphony, and singers. Sponsored by the San Mateo Public Library and JASNA NorCAl. Free and open to the public.
2018
Saturday, December 8, 11:00 am–4:00 pm
Annual Jane Austen Birthday Gala
Mural Room, The Bellevue Club
660 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland
JASNA NorCal welcomes you once again to our yearly birthday gala in honor of Jane Austen. This year’s gala will be at a new-to-us location, the beautiful Bellevue Club overlooking Lake Merritt. We will be on the 5th floor in the Crystal Lounge with food, programming and more from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Our morning presenter will be Dr. Timothy Erwin, this year’s JASNA visiting lecturer, with an illustrated lecture, “Seeing and Being Seen in Northanger Abbey.” He’ll be drawing on sources ranging from period etchings to modern film adaptations.
Our afternoon presenters are vintage collectors Tony Inson and Annie Coulter, repeating their delightful SRO talk on Regency Fashion given at our AustenFest last February. We end our day with a birthday cake and a champagne toast to Jane Austen.
Our beloved basket drawing will be back! Plan to bring your excess Janeite items and books (and cash!). Attendees are welcome to stay on for our programming caucus, to help us shape and plan events for 2019 and beyond. Period attire is admired but not required.
Free parking is available in the Club’s garage. Invitations have gone out to current JASNA members. To order tickets, download the invitation and mail it in with your check. Seating is limited to 45, so don’t delay!
Schedule of Events:
• 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, December 8, 2018 [Doors open at 10 so there’s time to settle in, socialize, survey raffle baskets]
• Crystal Lounge, The Bellevue Club, 525 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland
• Parking in the Bellevue Club’s private lot is included.
• Tickets $50 for JASNA/Bellevue Club members and one guest; $60 for non-members: includes morning coffee service, luncheon, birthday cake and champagne toast.
Saturday, September 15, 12:00–4:00 pm
Northanger Abbey and Gothic Fiction
Civic Park Community Center Lounge
1375 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek
2018 is a retrospective year on the anniversary of the novel’s publication (it was written in 1803, but published December 1817). We will discuss the novel itself and the works that inspired it.
Saturday, June 23, 1:00–4:00 pm
Persuasion and Time
Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Drive, Oakland
There are many ways of looking at time in Persuasion. Our main speaker, Anne Krause, will examine aspects of time in Persuasion: from the geological to the personal, in an expansion of her talk for AustenFest 2017. After our tea break, James Langdell will lead us through some popular sea-related songs of the era. (Anne is our former RC and James is the music man for Regency dancing you’ve enjoyed at BAERS, the ’97 AGM, etc.)
For this meeting we return to the lovely Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, site of last September’s meeting on Persuasion. Doors open at 12, meeting from 1–4. Don’t miss the beautiful Tiffany glass mosaics in the sanctuary across the hall. Please review the map, as Oakland street names here change on what appears to be the same street. The delivery parking lot is small but on the same level as the meeting room. Our member-supplied tea table is always a delight. Your contributions are most welcome.
Sunday, February 11 , 1:00–4:00 pm
AustenFest: Romantic Love in Jane Austen’s Time
San Mateo Main Library, 55 West Third Ave., San Mateo
Join us for an aft ernoon of Jane Austen and romantic love in the Georgian Era, with presentations and activities in three of the Main Library’s meeting rooms. Learn how love and romance developed in Jane Austen’s era. This event is open to the public and family friendly. There is parking in the library garage and on-street parking. Scones and tea will be available for purchase in the Oak Room. A special exhibit of reproduction fans by Lynn McMasters is featured in the Library’s second floor exhibit case through February.
AustenFest 2018 is cosponsored by the Northern California Region of the Jane Austen Society of North America and the San Mateo Public Library. Vintage dress is admired but not required.
Schedule of activities:
1:10–2:00 pm:
How Romantic Love Developed in the Georgian Era (1714–1830) (DiAnn Ellis)
An Accomplished Woman: How a Story Evolves (Rivkah & Jason Penarelli)
East Bay Romance Readers: How to Start a Book Club around Romance Novels (Elise Washington and Heather Johnson)
2:10–3:00 pm:
Country Dancing with Cassiane Vlahos (ends at 3:30 pm)
Science in the Time of Austen: From the Planet George to Darwin’s Galapagos (Anne Krause & Tony Dobro)
Romantic Fashions of Jane Austen’s Era (Annie Coulter and Tony Inson)
3:10–4:00 pm:
How English Dance Evolved: Performance (The Academy of Danse Libre) (3:30–4:00 pm)
Make a Lavender Sachet: Jane Austen Style or Lover’s Eye Brooch (DiAnn Ellis)
Non-Internet Match.com, or Jane Austen’s Rules on Dating (Joy Prevost)
Download the AustenFest program flyer
2017
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Jane Austen Gala: Jane’s Lasting Legacy
Seven Hills Conference Center, SFSU, San Francisco
We invite you to join JASNA NorCal for our annual Jane Austen Birthday Gala on Saturday, December 9, at Seven Hills Conference Center in San Francisco. This is our once-a-year indulgence in Godmersham-like luxury, a day of fellowship and inspiration with catered food, culminating in a birthday toast to Miss Jane Austen, whose works transcend the 200 years between our time and hers.
Our featured guests are a panel of contemporary Austenesque writers on “Jane Austen As Inspiration for Readers Today.” As an added treat, silhouette artist and lacemaker Sylvia Fellows will regale us with a look at paper crafting in Jane Austen’s day. We will also hear from the members who attended the recent AGM and see the prize-winning film by two of our own members.
Online registration is not available at this time. You may download a copy of the flyer here with instructions for paying by check. Please email us to let us know you will be attending to ensure a proper food count.
Saturday, September 9, 2017, 12 noon–4 pm
Fall Meeting: Persuasion at 200
Lake Merritt UMC, 1330 Lakeshore Avenue, Oakland
Discussion of Persuasion on its 200th anniversary. What was the changing tide of society? Where was the navy active? How does one put together a Regency military uniform? Our special guests include Jennifer LeBlanc of Shakespeare Livermore, who adapted Persuasion for the stage last year, and Chris Bertani, who sails on the tall ship Lady Washington. And more!
Our meeting is free and open to the public. Contributions to our tea table are always appreciated.
This meeting site overlooks Oakland’s scenic Lake Merritt to put us in a nautical mood; it’s opposite the Scottish Rite building and the Lake Chalet Restaurant. The UMC is about a 12-minute walk from the Oakland Lakeshore BART station and served by AC Transit. Coming by auto, the simplest approach is to go west on Lakeshore Avenue, and be sure to stay on Lakeshore Avenue it bends to the right. Please consult your favorite apps and maps for guidance.
Saturday, August 9, 2017, 12 noon–4:30 pm
Regency Styling Party
Pacifica Historical Society, 1850 Francisco Blvd., Pacifica, CA 94044
We have a day of exciting fashion fun planned. Whether you’re attending the AGM or not, we want to make sure you’re ready to be swept off in style at the next ball! Come early with Regency attire you want to sale or swap, or stop by if you’re in need of some new accoutrements. After the swap ’n sale we’ll have a crafternoon, so bring any projects you want help with. Non-Regency sewing projects are welcome in case you want to sew and chat. If you can put together an ensemble from the items you acquire, you may be awarded a prize! $5 admission.
Saturday, June 24, 2017, 12 noon–4 pm
Sanditon and Sea Bathing: Recreation and Health in the Time of Jane Austen
The Alta Vista Club, San Leandro
We return to the historic Alta Mira Club in San Leandro, which provided such a lovely setting for last year’s June meeting on Austen-inspired travel. Costumes are encouraged; the gracious parlors of the 1860 Peralta home provide a lovely setting for selfies. And we hope to fit in a few rounds of Regency dancing during our tea break.
In her final year, while seriously ill herself, Jane Austen was working on Sanditon, taking a wry look at health cures and hypochondriacs of 1817. Becky Richardson will guide us through this terrain. We’ll enjoy a spot of tea, some healthful dancing to live music. Then settle in while Kat Burnham shows us the latest parlor amusement: the kaleidoscope.
We’ll have time for mingling and sharing your travel tales from 12-1; program will begin at 1 with Becky Richardson. On-street parking is available in the neighborhood; by public transit, the club is a healthy 15-minute hike from the San Leandro BART. If you need or can provide assistance with rides to and from the meeting, please let us know at rc@jasnanorcal.org. We can also use a transit coordinator who help with such arrangements.
Contributions to our tea table are always appreciated.
Saturday, March 25, 2017, 12 noon–4 pm
AustenFest: Celebrating Jane Austen’s Life and Times
San Mateo Public Library, 55 West 3rd Avenue, San Mateo
Join us for an afternoon with three tracks of Austen-themed programming. Our “Jane Austen meets Downton Abbey” was such a hit last year that we were invited to take over three conference rooms at the San Mateo Library. We will have presentations, Regency dance instruction, panels, and hand-on demos of regency activities. Bonus: the Library will be screening three Austen-related films during March. Free. Let us know if you’d like to help!
Monday, March 6, 6:30 PM, San Mateo Main Library. Free.
Pride and Prejudice
The story of lively and rebellious Elizabeth, one of five unmarried daughters living in the countryside of 19th century England, in a world where an advantageous marriage is a woman’s sole occupation. 2005; Rated PG; 129 minutes.
Monday, March 13, , 6:30 PM, San Mateo Main Library. Free.
Bride and Prejudice
Based on Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, with a Bollywood twist. In Amritsar, the determined Mrs. Bakshi sets out to find matches for her daughters. Second sister, Lalita, meets American Will Darcy – is it love? 2004; Rated PG-13; 111 minutes.
Monday, March 20, 6:30 PM, San Mateo Main Library. Free.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Jane Austen’s classic tale of the tangled relationships between lovers from different social classes in nineteenth century England is faced with a new challenge, an army of undead zombies. 2016; Rated PG-13; 107 minutes.
Popcorn will be served. Everyone is welcome. These films are a prelude to the AUSTENFEST event to be held at the Main Library on March 25.
Co-Sponsor: The Jane Austen Society of North America, Northern California Region
Funding and support is provided by the San Mateo Public Library Foundation, The Daily Journal, & Whole Foods Market.
2016
Saturday, December 10, 2016, 9:30 am–4:00 pm
Jane Austen Birthday Gala with JASNA President Claire Bellanti
Seven Hills Conference Center, San Francisco State University, 800 Font Blvd., San Francisco, CA
‘You Can Get a Parasol at Whitby’s:’ Circulating Libraries in Jane Austen’s Time
An overview of the development of circulating libraries, how they differ from public libraries as we know them today, and how they affected Jane Austen’s life and publishing.
Circulating libraries were more than just books: they were an important center for social interaction and shopping as well as literacy. When new novels cost close to $100 in today’s prices, the cost to join was a bargain.
In that spirit, we shall have time for social interaction and perhaps some shopping. We’ll meet fellow members who live in our areas and share our interests, be they books, costuming, dance, or theater. Bring your cards to exchange contact info! Regency attire is appropriate but not mandatory. And don’t forget your parasol.
Registration opens at 9:30, breakfast at 10 in the adjacent cafeteria, welcome at 10:30. Registration fee of $45 general, $35 JASNA members includes the breakfast, nuncheon, and cake.
Advance registration form here: dec-flyer2016
Seven Hills Conference Center, San Francisco State University
800 Font Boulevard, San Francisco CA 94132
Directions to Seven Hills and parking here
Please read if you are coming to Seven Hills for the first time.
If you have mobility issues, ask to be dropped off at 800 Font Ave. Walk through Mary Ward Hall and you will be at Seven Hills, all on one level.
If stairs are an issue, there is an accessible path from the parking structure at the end of State Drive to Seven Hills that’s on one level. This map may help. Parking is available in the parking structure at the end of State Drive. Observe signage and fees for street and parking lots; regulations are enforced on weekend.
Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley
We are invited! The charming play that was read for us by TheatreWorks at last year’s meeting is now being staged in Mill Valley. We’ll have groups attending on Saturday Dec. 10 and Friday Dec. 16. Details & pricing on our dec-flyer2016.
Saturday, September 24, 2016, 1:00–4:00 pm
Emma-versary with Bernie Su
Angus Hall, Trinity Church, 330 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025
To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Austen’s match-making heroine, JASNA NorCal will be exploring the lasting legacy of “Emma.” Joining us will be the executive producer of the Emmy-winning “Emma Approved” webseries, Bernie Su. His involvement with Pemberley Digital has brought us modern interpretations of “Pride and Prejudice” (“The Lizzie Bennet Diaries”) and “Sanditon” (“Welcome to Sanditon”).
We will also be discussing the relationship between Emma and her father, and its implications for modern families. If you’re a fan of word-games, don’t miss out on our after-tea activity inspired by Emma.
Contributions to our Box Hill-inspired picnic buffet are most welcome.
Austen-inspired Travels
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Over 50 people turned out for our June meeting on Austen-Inspired Travels, held at the lovely and historic Alta Mira Club in San Leandro. We armchair travelers enjoyed hearing the adventures of our friend who have ventured to Bath and beyond. David and Carol Ann Graves shared memories of Winchester 2003, and Virginia Solomon brought many of her costumed friends who toured Bath in style in 2014. Jane Xavier Dougherty demonstrated packing a regency wardrobe in a carry-on, should you not be traveling with your ladies maid. We also heard memorable moments from Louisville and Jane Austen Society tours.
From Jane Austen to Downton Abbey: Historical, Cultural, and Social Links
Saturday, March 12, 2016, 12:30 pm–3:30 pm
San Mateo Main Library, Oak Room, 55 West 3rd Street, San Mateo, CA 94402
Our program features DiAnn Ellis, Professor of Education for 34 years at SF State University and a JASNA member. Having lived in England, DiAnn is now pursuing her keen interest in British History. Professor Ellis provided this description of her talk “Historical, Cultural, and Social Links from Jane Austen to Downton Abbey”:
In this illustrated lecture, Dr. DiAnn Ellis discusses the world of Downton Abbey within the sociohistorical and geopolitical context of the era. Learn about the amazing Regency, Edwardian, and 1920s eras. From the real Highclere Castle and Gardens where the series is filmed and where Dr. Ellis recently visited; to “The Buccaneers”; to the beautiful Worth gowns; to The Great War (1-2 year Anniversary); to the Suffragettes to the Spanish Flu; to Modern Spiritualism and Ouija Boards; as well as the daily lives of the landowners and the servants. Jane Austen’s extraordinary novels foreshadowed issues still present in Downton Abbey 100 years later!
The program drew a standing-room only crowd, with costumers in lovely Regency and WWI era attire. And the Library has invited us back for more Jane Austen on March 25, 2017.
2015
Jane Austen Birthday Gala
December 5, 2015, 10 AM to 4 PM
OBSTINATE, HEADSTRONG GIRL
A conversation with Lisa Pliscou, author of Young Jane Austen: Becoming a Writer, and Holly Brady, former Director, Stanford Publishing Courses
MISS BENNET
a staged reading of a play by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon
directed by Robert KelleySan Francisco State University
Seven Hills Conference Center
San Francisco, CA 94132
Saturday, September 26, 2015, 1 PM to 4 PM
Walking in Austen’s novels and Her Social Moment
Trinity Church, Angus Hall, 330 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Key Speaker: Professor Kirsten Saxton
Description: I am currently fascinated by and happy to talk about the topic of walking in Austen’s novels and her social moment; it is a super fascinating culturally coded topic (romantic walking for glorious thinking and nature etc was a decidedly male poetic sort of thing, and quite associated with the radical, walking for display vs walking for use–health, transport etc is very gendered and classes and so on). How and with whom Austen’s characters walk is pretty important.
“Why We Read Jane Austen”
Saturday, June 6, 2015, 12 PM to 4 PM
Belmont Library, The Taube Community Room, 1110 Alameda De Las Pulgas, Belmont, CA 94002
Key Speaker: Professor Bruce A. Thompson
Description: The great American literary critic Lionel Trilling wrote several essays about Jane Austen over the course of his distinguished career, including a final, unfinished essay entitled “Why We Read Jane Austen” (1975). At about the same time, an equally distinguished critic, Ian Watt, author of the classic study The Rise of the Novel, produced a brilliant essay entitled “Jane Austen and the Traditions of Comic Aggression.” Beginning with a summary of Trilling’s and Watt’s conclusions, this talk will offer additional reasons why Austen has continued to be the most popular English novelist for successive generations of readers. What were the distinctive features of Jane Austen’s art, and where did they come from?
The Heroine by E.S. Barrett
Saturday, March 21, 2015
12 PM to 4 PM
San Leandro Main Library
300 Estudillo Avenue, San Leandro, CA 94577
Key Speakers: Tony Dobro and Sheri Forbes
Description:
Tony Dobro will give a presentation on The Heroine by E. S. Barrett, a parody of Gothic romances in a similar vein as its contemporary, Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. Many writers such as Sir Walter Scott, Edgar Allan Poe, and Jane Austen herself read and admired this novel for its “delightful burlesque on the Radcliffe style.” Share Austen’s delight, and discover the sparkling wit and satire of this classic.
Member Sheri Forbes will facilitate a “Pitch Your Favorite Heroine” group discussion. Please consider bringing a short passage from the novels or a brief testimonial about your Heroine.
2014
A Jane Austen Valentine Day Celebration
February 16, 2014
4 PM to 6 PM
Capp Community Music Center
544 Capp Street, San Francisco CA
Between 20th and 21st Street & Mission St. and South Van Ness
Near Dolores Park
Whether you’ve read Pride & Prejudice a hundred times, or have recently come to love Jane Austen through film adaptations, get your Jane on and come join the Jane Austen Society of North America, Northern California Region ( JASNA NorCal) in celebrating Valentine’s Day on Sunday, February 16th from 4 to 6 p.m.
This event is taking place at the beautiful recital hall at the Capp Community Music Center. Doors will open at 3:30 pm, and refreshments (including faux champagne, syllabub, and regency baked goods such as macaroons, meringues, and rout cakes) will be served.
The afternoon’s entertainment includes an introduction to Jane Austen’s music, offered by pianist Cheryl Ziedrich (faculty, College of Marin), an expert on the music of Jane Austen’s world, who will perform some of the music Jane herself loved to play on the pianoforte and listen to. This will be interspersed with performances of scenes from Austen’s novels on the theme of love and marriage, acted by Bella Union Theatre Company under the direction of Christine U’Ren. This will be their third event for JASNA Norcal, having thrilled us with “Darcy’s Dilemma” (Gene Mocsy will again play Darcy) and with Christine’s witty adaptation of Lady Susan. Regency dress is delighted in, but not required.
Admission: Open to all. $10 for JASNA Members, seniors, veterans, students; $15 for all others. If you RSVP to rc@jasnanorcal, your tickets will be held for you at the door.
Spring Gathering: “The World of Jane Austen: Art and Culture in 18th and 19th Century Britain”
Saturday, April 19, 2014
2pm to 5pm
Park Branch of the San Francisco Public Library
1833 Page St, east of Stanyan St and south of Oak St
“The World of Jane Austen: Art and Culture in 18th and 19th Century Britain”
Featuring: Kathryn Zupsic
and
“Much Ado about Pride and Prejudice”
Featuring: Anne Krause
Summer Gathering: All Roads Lead to Austen … & to a Picnic at Downton Abbey
Saturday, June 28th 2014
12 noon to 4 PM
Trinity Church
330 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park
(between El Camino Real & Middlefield Road)
Fall Gathering: “The Peerage and the Admiralty: Manners & Morals in Persuasion”
Saturday, September 13, 2014
12:00 noon – 3:30(ish) PM
The San Leandro Public Library
Featuring: Stephen Arkin
December Gathering: “The Importance of Being Frank: On the Secret Plot in Emma”
Jane Austen Birthday Gala
December 6th, 2014
10 am – 3 pm
Seven Hills Conference Center, San Francisco State University
Featuring: Wendy Chen
2013
A Celebration of Jane Austen’s Birthday
“‘…in proportion to their family and income’: Houses in Jane Austen’s Life and Fiction”
Saturday, December 7, 2013
9 AM to 4:30 PM
San Francisco State University
Seven Hills Conference Center
All are warmly invited to join in a celebration of Jane Austen’s 238th Birthday with JASNA NorCal (The Jane Austen Society of North America Northern California Region)
JASNA President Iris Lutz will present an illustrated talk on houses in Jane Austen’s real and imagined worlds, shedding light on many of the homes and estates that figured in her life and novels. The visual tour will feature houses Austen lived in and visited while in Chawton, Bath, Winchester, and Kent, and Iris will share pictures and impressions from trips to Jane Austen Country. In addition, by pairing pictures of real houses with descriptions in the novels of cottages, manors, and estates, she will show what Austen may have had in mind when she created Barton Cottage, Longbourn, Mansfield Park, Pemberley, Sotherton, and other fictional houses.
The day’s many delights include a Sumptuous Brunch, Icebreaker, High Tea, a Toast & Birthday Cake, Quiz & Prizes, Mercantile, a short talk by Anne Krause, & a playing of “The Jane Game.”
About the speaker: Iris Lutz is in her second term as President of the Jane Austen Society of North America. She joined JASNA in 1996 when the Tucson-based Southern Arizona Region was being formed. Iris served as the group’s Regional Coordinator and organized JASNA’s 2006 Annual General Meeting on Mansfield Park. She has also served at the national level as Vice President for Regions and Vice President for Conferences. Iris enjoys “giving back” to the Society and doing her part to increase awareness of JASNA and promote the study and appreciation of Jane Austen’s works, life, and genius.
Registration deadline is December 4th, 2013. Address questions to rc@jasnanorcal.org
$35 for JASNA Members, their guests, & students; $45 for non-members
Jane Austen in India
Saturday, June 8, 2013
12 Noon to 4 PM
Trinity Church
330 Ravenswood Avenue
Menlo Park, CA
Our June event features a guided viewing of I Have Found It, the acclaimed Indian film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility.
Our tour guide, Ranjith Jayaram, grew up in southern India in a family that speaks Tamil, the original language of Kandukondein Kandukondein (I Have Found It). A Product Manager at Google, he is married to Deepali Lugani, a lifelong Janeite & our webmistress, who introduced him to the world of Jane Austen.
Ranjith will discuss I Have Found It and focus on how Austen’s story translates from Regency era England to modern day India. He will talk about how two societies separated by centuries and cultures nevertheless have fascinating parallels when it comes to the significance of marriage, sibling relationships, social customs and, of course, songs and dances and balls! He will also talk about the faithfulness of the adaptation and how and why it differs in a very Indian way.
It will be followed by our third Regency picnic, which will include the usual delights of regency cuisine, as well as dishes with a “Raj”ency twist — from kedgerees to chutneys, from a chai flummery to a trifle of tropical fruits.
This event is free and open to the general public, although donations to defray the cost of the food will be gratefully accepted. For more information, contact Anne Krause at rc@jasnanorcal.org.
A talk by Linda Greenberg on The Vicar of Wakefield,
followed by a talk about Fitzwilliam Darcy
in honor of the 200th Anniversary of Pride & Prejudice
Saturday, March 16, 2013
1 pm to 4 pm
Presidio Public Library
3150 Sacramento Street, near Baker St.,
San Francisco, CA
Our spring meeting will feature a talk by our own Linda Greenberg, who will speak on her PhD thesis on Goldsmith’s Vicar of Wakefield, which, she argues, is a source of and inspiration for the clerical hero, and so was an influence on Jane Austen in the creation of her many clerics. A short overview of the novel will be presented at the meeting, but if you have a chance, give it a look before the meeting: it’s a quick and fun read.
Then, in honor of the 200th anniversary of Pride & Prejudice, the membership will be given an opportunity to discuss that most-fascinating of Austen heroes, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Does Darcy deserve the adoration he has received from a besotted public? After all, he was amazingly nasty to poor Lizzy at the ball. And he doesn’t actually say much in the novel. The discussion will be introduced by a short overview of the critical literature on Darcy, designed to provoke a heated discussion! It has been said that we all deserve our own Jane Austen; similarly, we all have in mind our own Mr. Darcy. Come and share your Darcy with us!
This event is free of cost and all are welcome. Address questions to rc@jasnanorcal.org.
Directions to Presidio Library
2012
Second Impressions
A presentation & book-signing
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Noon to 4:00 PM
Temple United Methodist Church
65 Beverly Street, San Francisco, CA
near Junipero Serra Blvd & 19th Avenue within a half-mile of San Francisco State University
Our jane-ite year starts out with a bang! This meeting will be devoted to a most special presentation by a local-girl-makes-good, Sandy Lerner, aka Ava Farmer. Sandy, a graduate of Cal State-Fresno (BA, political science), Claremont Graduate School (MA, econometrics), and Stanford University (MS, statistics and computer science), went on, along with now ex-husband Len Bosack, to design the computer router upon which they co-founded Cisco Systems.
After leaving Cisco, Ms Lerner bought Chawton House, home of Jane Austen’s brother Edward, which, despite the fears of the local villagers, she lovingly restored. Sandy, most appropriately, devoted it to the housing of the Chawton House Library, a center devoted to early English women’s writing. Her wide-ranging interests also include the founding of Urban Decay Cosmetics (motto: “if pink makes you puke”); currently, she is running the 800 acre Ayrshire Farm in Virginia, promoting the benefits of locally produced, humanely-raised meats and organic produce. Ms. Lerner has received several honorary doctorates, from Washington and Jefferson College, Goucher College, University of Southhampton (England) and Shenandoah University.
Along with Anna Quindlen and Cornel West, she will be a keynote speaker at this year’s AGM in New York City, speaking on the importance of money in the novels — both wealth and poverty. Of greatest interest to our group, however, will be her remarks on her recently published novel Second Impressions (written under the nom de plume “Ava Farmer”). The result of twenty-six years of research, it promises to be the first historically-accurate sequel to Pride & Prejudice. Ms. Lerner will not only read from the novel and sign copies (some will be available for purchase), but will also discuss the process of researching and writing this lovingly-crafted sequel, and she will be open to questions about her other ventures.
This presentation is free and open to the public. The event will include tea and light refreshments.
Presentation & Book Signing Flyer
From Byron to Box Hill — Pleasures Domestic & Continental
Our summer meeting will be held at Trinity Church in Menlo Park in the same delightful space where we held last summer’s meeting, where, like Fanny Price, we can “sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, the most perfect refreshment.” This meeting will feature a too-long absent friend of JASNA Norcal, Steve Arkin, Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the English Department of San Francisco State University. After a few years in Minnesota, Steve is returning to the Bay Area, although currently he is spending a few months in London and Geneva. This will surely inform his presentation on “Jane Austen and the Radicals: Domestic Arrangements in the Time of Napoleon,” in which he will discuss the circle that gathered around Shelley in Geneva, contrasting the domesticity in Austen with its radical alternatives in the lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Claire Clairmont, and will consider some of the issues that were alive in Britain through the Napoleonic wars.
This will be followed by a Regency picnic, organized and presented by Anne Krause, who will offer a few words on “Culinary Novelties for Regency Foodies.”
Lady Bertram: Lover or Loafer?: An Exploration of Lady Bertam’s Ennui as Sexuality
by Professor Beard
“A Fall Day with Jane Austen”: Sitting on the sofa with Lady Bertram and reading a letter by Austen, with clues to the British Abolition Movement.
Our first talk will be by Professor Pauline Beard, chair of the English Department at Pacific University, Oregon, and JASNA Travelling Scholar. She will speak on, “Sex and Debility in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park: Lady Bertram, Loafer or Lover?” The presentation examines the debility in the aristocratic Lady Bertram and her sexuality, in terms of cultural studies of Regency attitudes which suggest that “stimulation was a source of disorder” and that “stimulation led to debility.” The theory applied to the women in Mansfield Park and some of the other novels opens up whole new areas of discussion.
After our usual Regency tea, the second presentation will be by our own Joyes Burris, who will speak on “Was Jane Austen in Love with Mr. Clarkson, the Abolitionist?” In a letter of February 1813 Jane Austen wrote that she was “in love with the author [Charles Pasley] as I ever was with Clarkson or Buchanan, or even the two Mr. Smiths.” In her talk, Joyes Burris will discuss the persons and works identified in this letter, with emphasis on Thomas Clarkson, abolitionist. A close reading of this letter will shed light on the abolition movement in Britain.
This is offered gratis to the public, & all are invited, although contributions to the Regency Tea will be gratefully accepted. Address questions to Anne Krause, rc@jasnanorcal.org
Litquake 2012: Austen à Go-Go: The Enduring Appeal of Jane Austen
D. A. Miller is a literary critic and film scholar. He is John F. Hotchkis Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is also affiliated with the Department of Film and Media. Miller’s work has been enormously influential in a wide range of fields in literary and cultural studies. He is the author of several books including Jane Austen, or The Secret of Style (Princeton, 2005).
Sandy Lerner is author of Second Impressions, a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Originally a Silicon Valley pioneer (the co-founder of Cisco Systems), she also founded Chawton House Library in England, and advocates for organic farming. This spring JASNA NorCal had the privilege of a reading by Ms Lerner from her superbly-researched sequel, and all those who attended agree that she is one of the most fascinating speakers we have ever had!
Karen Joy Fowler is the bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club, as well as science fiction, short stories, and historical fiction. Her latest collection is What I Didn’t See: Stories. She lives in Santa Cruz. Her talk at a JASNA Birthday Gala was a great hit.
Composer Kirke Mechem has written more than 250 works — including an opera of Pride and Prejudice. His first opera, Tartuffe, has had 400 performances. He has been called “the dean of American choral composers.” A couple of years ago a recital from his opera P&P was hosted by JASNA NorCal; the arias performed were exquisite and worthy of Austen. His talk on the process of composing P&P proved him to have the wit and charm needed by such an endeavor.
London-born Elizabeth Newark has written seven children’s books, poetry, essays on Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, and a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. She is a member of the Jane Austen Society. Elizabeth Newark is a treasure of JASNA NorCal, delighting us over the years with many beautifully crafted
Celebrate Jane Austen’s 237th Birthday
Seven Hills Conference Center
$35 for JASNA Members, their Guests, and Students
$45 for Non-members
Registration deadline is December 5th.
Our yearly Jane Austen Birthday Gala includes the usual pleasures of a sumptuous breakfast, high tea, cake and a special toast, icebreaker, quiz, prizes, drawings, and JA-themed mercantile. In addition there are three very special presentations:
- the first is a by the musicologist Dr. John Prescott, who gave a delightful presentation at our December gala several years ago and is a popular speaker at local classical music offerings; his presentation “The Role of Music in Film Adaptations of the Works of Jane Austen” is sure to please.
- The other two, Hannah Doherty and Becky Richardson, are two rising young scholars who come highly recommended by the Austen English faculty at Stanford University. Hannah Doherty’s illustrated presentation “I myself have read hundreds & hundreds”: Jane Austen & the Novels of the Minerva Press describes the “horrid novels” of the Minerva Press, popular with Isabella Thorpe and Catherine Morland.
- Becky Richardson’s presentation “Telling Secrets in Sense & Sensibility” describes how the confession scenes dramatize the interplay of voices — an interplay that characterizes Austen’s development of free indirect discourse.
The charge for the event is being kept at last year’s levels; also, to encourage attendance by young Jane-ites, the JASNA attendence rate of $35 is being extended to students. Address questions to 650-755-3062 or e-mail rc@jasnanorcal.org.