Black and mixed-race women in nineteenth-century Britain were represented in fiction, drama and high and low art. However the reality of their actual presence couldn’t be more different from these exaggerated representations. Professor Gretchen Gerzina (University of Massachusetts Amherst) will talk about the representations and realities of black women living during this time.

What did we do on our CoVid quarantine vacation? With a baseline of Beethoven’s glorious chamber music, director/lyricist Emily King created a series of 9 songs which capture, each in their unique way, the flavor, plot and characters of Persuasion, Jane Austen’s last completed, least read and most fiercely defended novel. Twelve remarkable singer actors […]

Juliette Wells (Goucher College) is giving a special talk on practical strategies for engaging diverse young readers with Austen and encouraging productive conversations about hot-button topics. This event will be a fantastic opportunity for anyone interested in bringing Austen to a new generation. A public Q&A will follow the talk.

Melinda C. Finberg is an associate professor of theatre practice in critical studies at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. She is a nationally known dramaturg and scholar of theatre history. Her illustrated talk on "The Theatrical Jane Austen" will explore Austen's early exposure to theatre, what theatre was like in Regency England, what Austen would […]

Topic: "Costuming Jane Austen: Historic Sources and Designers' Choices for the Film and Television Adaptations" A talk by Alden O'Brien, Curator of Costumes and Textiles at the DAR Museum in Washington DC Pre-registration is required; see the event link for info.

We will be gathering online from the comfort of our own homes, to share tea, discuss our beloved Jane and her works, and join in a delightful game of Jane Austen trivia! Put on your best Regency dress & bonnet (or coat and breeches or stay in your comfy clothes-we won’t judge!) & bring out […]

The Jane Austen House Museum's recent decision to contextualize the Austen family's connections to slavery in its exhibits has caused considerable debate.  In this talk, Professor Devoney Looser (Arizona State University) will explore the significance and extent of the extended Austen family's connection to the West Indian slave trade. This event will be followed by […]

Our speaker will be Audrey Bilger, Reed College President and author of Laughing Feminism: Subversive Comedy in Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, and Jane Austen. In her book, Audrey Bilger shows that these women writers employed a full arsenal of comic weapons such as satire, burlesque, and parody to combat patriarchal nonsense and make comedy out of […]

With the help of a contemporary Guide Book, her letters, and works we explore Austen’s London. This is a special walk, which came about because of a kind gift of a book – The Picture of London for 1809  Being a CORRECT GUIDE to all the Curiosities, Amusements, Exhibitions, Public Establishments,  and Remarkable Objects in […]

Join Royal Oak and historian and speaker Carol Ann Lloyd to look at Queen Charlotte and how she managed a household of 15 children, supported her husband during his active reign and then during his lengthy illness, attempted to guide her son in governing the country, and shaped many of our impressions of Regency England.