This month’s mailbag brings a bundle of news related to Jane Austen. Autumn is a busy season for our favorite author! First is that Jane Austen’s House Museum has been able to purchase a section of one of Jane’s letters, thanks to a generous outpouring of public support. The letter,…
Read More
Category: Austen Today (Contemporary Austen)
How it is that a spinster who lived a sheltered life two centuries ago writes about relationships and life in a way that still resonates with women—and men.
Another Look at ‘Pride and Prejudice’
I’ve seen most of the television and movie productions of Pride and Prejudice. I’ve enjoyed almost all of them. Like most people, my favorite is probably the 1995 television production with Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth as Darcy. The reason has as much to do with the…
Read More
How Do We Know Jane’s Stuff Is Really Hers?
A few weeks ago, Alexa Adams, a blogger on Austen Authors, wrote an interesting blog on the Rice portrait, which is believed by some to be a painting of a youthful, vibrant Jane Austen. Alexa was following up on an article in The Guardian newspaper claiming that a letter from…
Read More
Seeing Fanny Price Through Modern Eyes
Until this week, I had seen all of the major film adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels—the theater releases, the BBC series, etc.—except one. I have now completed the sweep by finally watching Patricia Rozema’s 1999 version of Mansfield Park. I missed the movie when it came out. After reading a…
Read More
Austen Sideroads Yield Interesting Journeys
Combing the internet for information on the life and times of Jane Austen sometimes leads to links in which the English author is mentioned in passing or as part of a broader story. More times than not, these side trips become worthwhile journeys of their own. Today we look at…
Read More
Jane Austen’s Birthday, Season of Giving, and Chawton House Library
We’re coming to the end of a year commemorating the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death, but I prefer to celebrate the great author’s birth. December 16, 2017, marks her 242nd birthday. This day of celebration falls in the middle of the Christmas season, a time of joy and giving….
Read More
Austen and MTM: Pleasantly Subversive
When the news came recently that Mary Tyler Moore had died, I joined millions of others in feeling a deep sadness at the loss of an actress who had lit up television during a relatively bland era. Before she was done, Moore won seven Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards,…
Read More
Impressions of Australia
On the week-long visit to Australia to discuss the time and works of Jane Austen with fellow Janeites, the schedule set up so that I had a day on and a day off, giving me the opportunity to see a little of the country-continent. This was a welcome change from…
Read More
Austen in Australia
I spent the week in Australia, giving presentations on the history and work of Jane Austen. The lectures took me to Sydney, where I spoke at the Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, and at a local library; and at the Austen societies in Newcastle and…
Read More
What Did Jane Austen Look Like?
What did Jane Austen look like? No one really knows. Which is to say: We know fairly precisely her size and shape, but only a little of what her face looks like. A forensic analysis done by clothing expert Hilary Davidson in 2015 details Austen’s figure. By analyzing an outer…
Read More
Strolling in the Pleasure Gardens of Jane Austen’s Bath
Whereas the first day of the Jane Austen Festival in Bath was as dreary as anyone could wish to avoid—enlivened only by the gaily dressed ladies and gentlemen who braved the rain for the Promenade—the next day broke off as sunny and pleasant as anyone in England would wish to enjoy….
Read More
News Release
Author Collins Hemingway Hosts Book Launch for The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen: Volume II at Jane Austen Festival in Bath, England BATH, England, 7 Sept., 2016 – Author Collins Hemingway will officially launch Volume II of The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen Trilogy, a new historical novel based on…
Read More
Sweepstakes update, Austen movie fun
All– Just a brief update to let you know that “The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen” Sweepstakes 2016 has concluded, and we’ll be announcing our Grand Prize Winners soon. Watch for updates here. Also, Mary Jo Murphy in the New York Times ranked all the Austen movies done to date….
Read More
Sexism in Film, Part II: What’s the Solution for Hollywood?
Recently, I wrote about sexism in films today and the general lack of strong roles for women. The blog noted that Jane Austen has been the source for at least ninety TV or movie productions, nearly half of all female films in the last twenty years. Though the quiet perseverance…
Read More