Baja Janeite sent us a link to a travel article about a visit to Chawton.

The house was exactly the size I imagined; comfortable, but not small. There were the amber crosses that Charles Austen, Jane’s seafaring brother, had given to her and her sister, Cassandra — famous to us Janeites. On the door leading to the staircase, a sign warned that it squeaked, and said Jane liked it that way so she could hide her manuscripts if she heard someone coming.

Then, there it was: Jane’s writing table. I stood and stared, amazed that she could write a brilliant work like Persuasion on such a tiny table. It was beautiful to me. It looked so well-loved and well-used.

In related news, Alert Janeite Lisa sent us a link to an article about an artist working on a sculpture that will grace Austen Court in Basingstoke, the town where Jane Austen went to assemblies as a young lady living in Steventon.

The pyramid-shaped sculpture, which is four feet tall and made from Portland limestone, features four aspects of Basingstoke including references to Jane Austen, the Basingstoke Canal, Basingstoke as a new town and the town crest with a dragon and St Michael.

It looks to us from the accompanying photo that there is a side with a quill pen and books–very likely the Jane Austen reference. It looks lovely.

Congratulations to Tina B., who won a paperback copy of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler. Tina gave us permission to share her own Confession…

I am in a Mom’s group at our church. We meet once a week and discuss issues of women, parenting and marriage. Often, some point will remind me of something in Jane Austen and I’ll say, “It’s just like Jane Austen says…” I get looks of either surprise or amusement, depending on how often these particular women have heard me do this. I usually brazen it out, explain my point and defiantly say, “There is a Jane Austen quote for everything!” I’m pretty sure I have become a caricature, but I won’t ever stop, because I can’t!

There really IS a Jane Austen quote for EVERYTHING!!!

We were amused by a cross-stitch sampler chart for “Mr. Collins’ Humble Abode,” featuring the rector of Hunsford and his cara sposa. Thanks to Cub Reporter (and avid cross-stitcher) Heather L. for the link.

Here’s the latest lineup of local Austen events; one might be in YOUR neighborhood!

May 20 (and monthly through October), Charlotte, NC: The Janeite Disciples Book Club begins monthly discussions of Jane Austen’s novels with Sense and Sensibility at the Concord main library. To register, stop by the library or see the e-mail address at the link.

May 28, Glendale, CA: Laurie Viera Rigler, author of The Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, will speak at the Glendale Public Library. Tea will be served. This event is free and open to the public.

June 4, Myrtle Beach, NC: Conway Library will hold a discussion of Pride and Prejudice led by Becky Hubbard, English professor at Horry-Georgetown Technical College. Registration is required.

(Have we mentioned that Librarians Rock? Because you do!)

Alert Janeite Jessica sent us a link to the Questionable Content comic, which has a reference to The Darcy. Though we would think by the character’s t-shirt she would be a Wentworth girl.

Ungentlemanlike language warning, not in the comic itself but in the side matter.

We were amused by this tidbit from a review of the reality television show “The Paper,” about the trials and tribulations of a high school newspaper staff:

there are moments when “The Paper” can be as uncomfortable as a particularly squirmy episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” or “The Office,” or even certain Jane Austen adaptations on PBS.

YES! Somebody gets that Jane Austen’s work is sometimes…squirmy. Yes.

Beliefnet has put together a photo gallery of the Top 10 Spiritual Jane Austen Places in the UK, based on Lori Smith’s Book A Walk With Jane Austen. The places are spiritual in the religious sense and in the Janeite sense as well.

Baja Janeite let us know that the Victorian Trading Company (we love their stuff!) has a Jane Austen hat for sale. Why it’s a Jane Austen hat we’re really not sure, though it is quite cute. Unfortunately this isn’t really the season for it anymore, but if you want something to put away for next year, or you’re in the southern hemisphere, there you go.

Alert Janeite Maria L. sent us a column from Carla Carlisle musing on the juxtaposition of the publication of Sunday Times’ “Rich List” and the broadcast of Miss Austen Regrets.

In fact, it was fitting that the Rich List and Miss Austen Regrets appeared on the same day. Jane Austen would have been fascinated by such a list. The opening paragraphs of all her novels begin with money, including Emma, the novel she’s writing as the BBC drama begins—’Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich’ —with Mr Knightley especially desirable because his great wealth isn’t encumbered, not dependent on the death of a parent or distant cousin. He has no unmarried sisters to support, no complications of title, just a small problem of cashflow, a common predicament of the conscientious working farmer. Marriage to Emma will soften his bank manager’s heart.

My ability to size up fortunes may not be as precise as Miss Austen’s, but I think that Mr Darcy, with his vast estate and his income of £10,000 a year, would have made the Rich List of his day. In 2008, it takes £80 million to be on the Rich List Top 1,000.

She goes on to compare No. 144 and Friend of Jane, J.K. Rowling, to Jane Austen.

In many ways, J. K. Rowling is the Jane Austen of our day. A born writer whose need for money pushed her on. If only our beloved Jane had had the good luck to find a publisher like Bloomsbury, she would have known the delirium and freedom of self-made security.

If she had lived a little longer, we think she would have had all the success she could have wanted (and all the fame she didn’t).

Alert Janeite Lisa sent us an article from Playbill about the upcoming Geva Theatre production of Pride and Prejudice, which starts on May 21 and runs through June 22.

This world premiere features a cast of 24 “and incorporates innovative scenic concepts using some of the most technological advances available for the theatre today.”

Cuddy said in a statement, “The entire Geva staff and creative team have embraced this project for the past year. What we hope to achieve is a fresh telling of Pride and Prejudice through dialogue, music and imagery. I think that the contemporary audience is looking for a way into this period that is more like the experience of reading a novel or watching a film. Our cinematic approach is a true expression of Jane Austen’s language and locations. I’m hopeful that both Austen devotees and novices will find a seductive entrance to her work.”

We hope someone will send us a report!

Emporia State University’s Summer Theatre season will include I Love You Because, a modern-set, gender-switched musical version of Pride and Prejudice.

The final production, presented July 23-26, is a modern musical romance, “I Love You Because” by Joshua Salzman and Ryan Cunningham. A new take on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” it is about Austin Bennet, a young greeting card writer, whose longtime girlfriend has left. On a blind date, he meets a flighty photographer, Marcy Fitzwilliams, with relationship dilemmas of her own. Encouraged by their friends Jeff and Diana, the two seem destined for one another. Or do they?

The New York Times says “I Love You Because” is “infectiously entertaining and filled with wit and zest!” Jim Bartruff is directing. Lindy Bartruff is the show’s choreographer and Speedie is the music director. Nancy Pontius designs the settings. ESU alum Jamie Urban designs costumes and the lighting design is by Michael Wilke. Schultz is the stage manager. The show will mark the debut of ESU Theatre’s new technical director, Craig Moxon.

All performances are in the Karl C. Bruder Theatre in King Hall. Show time is 7:30 pm. Tickets are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, and $5 for students. Tickets can be reserved at the box office at 341-6378 or 877-341-6378 (toll free).

Milwaukee Repertory Theater has announced its 2008-2009 season, which will include a production of Pride and Prejudice from March 3-29, 2009. Mark your calendars!

Master Arts Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan, will be holding auditions for Sense and Sensibility on May 31 at 10 a.m. and June 2 at 7 p.m. They need 7 men and 7 women. The minimum age is 17. Good luck and let us know if you make the cast!

And for the non-thespian Janeites in the area: The play will be staged from September 11-27, 2008. Mark your calendars!

Review by MJ Ryan

When tackling the continuation of another author’s unfinished story, the new author must decide whether to try to divine from the available text which direction the original author was going or whether to take the characters in a new direction. I’m not sure it can be easily determined where Jane intended the characters in The Watsons to go. Maybe that’s why it remained during Austen’s lifetime a mere fragment, and maybe that’s why Aiken decided that the latter avenue would be best. Since it would be difficult to completely review the book without giving away a spoiler or two I will give a succinct two sentence review for those who don’t want to be spoiled: as a historical drama the book mostly works. As a continuation of what Jane Austen started, it falls short. For those not worried about being slightly spoiled, read on. (more…)

Wordcandy.net is having a giveaway–basically the same one we had last week, with five winners of a Jane Austen-related Sourcebooks title. So if you weren’t one of the winners in our drawing, check it out!

And there is still time to enter the current AustenBlog giveaway of a copy of the new paperback edition of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler.

Austen 2008!

Here’s a last-minute entry for those in the Rochester, NY area: the Pittsford Community Library will have a book group meeting to discuss Pride and Prejudice on Thursday, May 8 (today!) from 1:30 to 3 p.m.

The folks in Calgary have a little more time to plan for this one: this Saturday, the Jane Austen Society presents “Plotting Sexual Pursuit: Origin and Implications of Jane Austen’s Courtship Plots,” a lecture by U of C English prof Dr. David Oakleaf at the Sunalta Community Centre, 1627 19th Ave. S.W.

Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight Saga series of young adult vampire novels, is a Friend of Jane.

What writers inspire you?
Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, and Orson Scott Card. I can’t go through a year without re-reading Austen.

To celebrate the paperback publication of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler, we are giving away a copy of the new paperback edition of the novel. To be entered in the drawing, send your full name and mailing address and your Jane Austen Addict confession to austenblog AT gmail DOT com. How have you embarrassed yourself for Jane Austen? (And yes, this is open to readers outside the U.S.) ETA: entries due by Saturday, May 10, at 10 p.m. U.S. Eastern time.

Congratulations to the winners of last week’s Spring Book Giveaway contest: Rebecca W. won a copy of The Darcys Give a Ball by Elizabeth Newark; Vicki R. (aka Baja Janeite) won a copy of Emma and Knightley by Rachel Billington; Marybeth won a copy of The Watsons and Emma Watson by Joan Aiken; Mariflor won a copy of Old Friends and New Fancies by Sybil Brinton; and Vicki K. won a copy of The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins. The winners all will receive notification e-mails shortly.

We recently added several titles to our collection of e-texts at Molland’s Circulating-Library for the reading enjoyment of all Janeites.

As a result of many user requests, we’ve expanded the section on Jane Austen’s work to include Lady Susan, Love and Freindship (which includes Love and Freindship, of course, Lesley Castle, The History of England, and other juvenilia), and The Watsons. We are considering adding Sanditon as well so it will be included in the all-texts search index.

One addition that we’re really pleased about is a subject guide to the third edition of Jane Austen’s letters, edited by Deirdre Le Faye. The index is meant to complement the existing biographical, topographical, and general indices in the letters. Del Cain, a retired librarian from Florida, made these notes for his own use on index cards, which he then typed up. He asked for our help in putting the index online, and we have arranged it by one letter of the alphabet per page. We are trying to think of a way to make the index downloadable and printable without it being a huge PDF.

Janeites who have been enjoying her work on the Internet for a long time will remember Cathy Dean’s e-texts archive, which included some biographies and introductions to various editions of Jane Austen’s novels. Word reached us last year that the site had gone dark, though the texts were still available via the Internet Archive (but for how long?). We managed to track down Ms. Dean and ask if we could transfer the e-texts to Molland’s, and she gave her permission. We thank her for it! Among the items we’ve transferred are two book-length Austen biographies, Jane Austen and Her Times by G.E. Mitton (which is very charming) and Jane Austen by O.W. Firkins (less charming, but interesting to read from a historical perspective).

We’ve also included two family biographical works: James Edward Austen-Leigh’s A Memoir of Jane Austen and Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters: A Family Record by William Austen-Leigh and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh (the original 1913 text). There also are some new shorter pieces. We have a stack of other texts to scan and add to this growing collection, so stay tuned! In the meantime, we hope you enjoy reading some of these texts, which are fascinating from a historical perspective. The 21st and even the 20th century have no lock on Jane Austen scholarship. Also, we’re very interested in user feedback, so let us know how you use the texts and how they can be improved.