Our calendar features a wide range of in-person and online programs, including talks, exhibits, tours, discussions, and more. We also highlight events of interest from the broader Jane Austen and Regency world. All event times reflect the organizers’ local time zones. JASNA regional events are additionally listed on the main JASNA web site.
To submit an event for the calendar, kindly email news@jasnanorcal.org.
Following our Gala Tea we will cross the street to Silicon Valley TheatreWorks to see the new play by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon. Tickets for the play are available now through TheatreWorks https://theatreworks.org/mainstage/georgina-kitty/ . TIckets are selling fast. Make sure you select the matinee to join us. 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.
More information at JasnaNorcal.org
Jane Austen’s writings focus on forming the Regency marriage, from the courtship to the proposal. Unfortunately, ending the Regency marriage was also a fact of life (hello, Mr. Rushworth!). In Jane’s time there was no such thing as a no-fault divorce; instead, the process was long, complicated, very expensive, and engendered a great deal of […]
Join us to discuss Melodie Edwards's Once Persuaded, Twice Shy: A Modern Reimagining of Persuasion.
How did Persuasions develop from a 32-page newsletter designed to serve a fledging organization to a 256-page printed journal and a vibrant online journal accessible worldwide? The story of Persuasions and Persuasions On-Line is part of JASNA's history that helps us see the genius, the excitement, and the growing pains of the organization and its […]
For our May reading group, we're discussing a new anthology of Austen-inspired short stories that the publisher describes as "just as much a whimsical travelogue as an anthology of excellent Regency romance fiction and fantasy. Each author tells the story of their homage to Jane Austen during their past travels to the UK, with photos to […]
Conduct literature refers to texts that instruct and inform and give guidance on basic etiquette, and larger matters of religion and intellectual life. The primary concern of such works was virtue and propriety. Jane Austen was no stranger to the genre, though her personal feelings towards it are difficult to ascertain. Conduct literature seems to […]
Join our discussion of Death Comes to Pemberley. "P. D. James, long among the most admired mystery writers of our time, draws the characters of Jane Austen’s beloved novel Pride and Prejudice into a tale of murder and emotional mayhem." - Goodreads
For our July reading group, we'll discuss Kathryn Sutherland's most recent book, Jane Austen in 41 Objects, in anticipation of her presentation to JASNA NorCal members in September.
For our September reading group, we're catching up with Devoney Looser's 2025 book all about the wilder side of Austen's writing, life, and legacy. As the book jacket explains, "Thieves! Spies! Abolitionists! Ghosts! If we ever truly believed Jane Austen to be a quiet spinster, scholar Devoney Looser puts that myth to rest at last in Wild […]
Jane Austen in 41 Objects is Professor Kathryn Sutherland’s attempt to address a paradox: of all writers Jane Austen is among those very few that we most ardently wish to know but so little survives for us on which to base our knowledge. Summarizing a life in 41 objects is a way of acknowledging that […]
What do Austen’s novels tell us about attitudes towards rakishness? This talk will consider Austen’s most famous rakish figures—John Willoughby, Henry Crawford, and George Wickham—and explore each novel’s narrative handling of these men’s sexual transgressions. Rather than excoriate rakish behavior, Austen’s novels present these characters with various forgiving conclusions—conclusions that appear to promote sympathy toward […]