Jane Austen Society of North America, Southwest Region

Welcome

Whether you have just discovered Jane Austen or are a lifelong aficionado, you are welcome at the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) and our local region of the society, JASNA Southwest.

Our region is the largest and one of the oldest in the national society. We host four regional meetings annually that feature a wide range of speakers and presentations, offer numerous local reading and game groups, sponsor a Young Filmmakers Contest and maintain a comprehensive guide to Austen Adaptations.

Learn more about the benefits of joining JASNA and JASNA Southwest on our membership page.

We hope you enjoy exploring our site and we hope to see you soon!

Left: Lyme Park stood in for Pemberley in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries.

Upcoming Free Zoom Events

We are pausing our in-person events until it is safe for large groups to meet again in person. In the meantime, join our monthly free Zoom presentations by notable scholars, authors and others with an interest in all things Austen-related! 

Sign up for our mailing list for more information. Or visit our YouTube channel to view past presentations.

Jane Austen Bingo, Birthday Celebration and Board Election

Saturday, Dec. 18, 11 a.m. Pacific
Register now!

Lisa Brown—regional coordinator of JASNA Central and Western New York, and creator of Jane Austen Bingo—will lead us in six rounds of bingo, each round focusing on one of Austen’s novels.

You’ll learn a lot from playing or watching Jane Austen Bingo, but no learning curve is involved. You don’t need to memorize the characters–or even to have read the novels. Character names are drawn out of a bowl and players check their cards for a match.

The first person to have five matches in a row is the winner. For Regency-authentic responses, the cry is “huzzah” instead of “bingo.”

All registrants will have the opportunity to download bingo cards in advance of the event—or you can just watch if you prefer!

Prizes will be awarded!

“Why You Should Read Oscar Fay Adams”

Dr. Juliette Wells
Saturday, January 22, 2022
11 a.m. Pacific time

This extensively illustrated talk will introduce you to a groundbreaking late-19th century biographer of Austen who is all but forgotten today. Registration will open in late December.
 
Wells is professor of literary studies at Goucher College, which holds the JASNA archives and many noteworthy Austen-related collections, including multiple first editions of every Austen novel, scrapbooks with one-of-a-kind ephemera and the world’s only collection of Austen novels in translation in dozens of languages.
 
Wells is the author of Reading Austen in America (2017) and Everybody’s Jane: Austen in the Popular Imagination (2011). She serves on the editorial board of Persuasions. She created 200th anniversary editions of Austen’s novels Persuasion (2017) and Emma (2015). Beyond Austen, her writings include a co-edited book, The Brontës in the World of the Arts (2008), and numerous articles on topics ranging from George Eliot to chick lit.

Upcoming In-Person Events

We are pausing our in-person events until it is safe for large groups to meet again in person. We have moved our events that had to be postponed in 2020 to new dates in 2022. Sign up for our mailing list for more information.

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Mission Inn, Riverside
(a block of rooms will be reserved for those wishing to spend Friday and/or Saturday evening)

Miss Austen Goes to Washington

Our event will explore Regency-era politics as well as Austen’s influence today.

Featured speakers:
Congressman Mark Takano (D-Riverside), former English teacher who launched a Jane Austen reading group on Capitol Hill
Austen scholar Sheryl Craig, author of Jane Austen and the State of the Nation

Saturday, December 3, 2022

The Grand, Long Beach

We originally planned for our event on Regency fashion and footwear to be held at The Grand, followed by dance lessons and an English country dance. We have shifted our two stellar speakers for that event to a virtual meeting to be held on Saturday, June 19, 2021. See more information above.

Please save the date for our new event at The Grand in December 22. Details on the topic and speakers will be announced at a later date.

Follow Us

Reading, Film and Game Groups

For the upcoming schedule for each of our reading, film and game groups, visit the groups page.

Read

Immerse yourself in an Austen novel, participate in a reading or game group or catch up on the latest JASNA Southwest news.

Join

Explore the benefits of becoming a JASNA and JASNA Southwest member, or join or renew your membership now!

Attend

Discover our wide range of events or scroll through our archive for recaps, video and audio from past meetings.

Celebrate

Join other Jane Austen fans from around Southern California by attending one of our regional meetings.

Volunteer

Greet visitors at our Festival of Books booth, organize a new reading group or assist with events and more as a valued volunteer.

Give

Support JASNA’s Southwest region with a tax-deductible donation in any amount. Your gift truly makes a meaningful difference in all we do!

Learn

Discover a treasure trove of resources, including our comprehensive guide to film adaptations as well as books Austen herself admired.

Connect

Email jasnasw or visit our contact page to direct your query on a specific topic or to a board member. We look forward to hearing from you.

Join Our Mailing List

Sign up today to receive our monthly e-newsletter, event invitations and occasional news, such as free Austen-related film screenings. We never (ever) share your information with anyone. Period.
Sign Up Today

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” —Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.” —Jane Austen, Jane Austen’s Letters

“For my own part, if a book is well written, I always find it too short.” —Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“It is not what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” —Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“It is such a happiness when good people get together, and they always do.” —Jane Austen, Emma

“I am not a great reader, and I have pleasure in many things.” —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“My idea of good company … is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation.” “That is not good company, that is the best.” —Jane Austen, Persuasion

“If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.” —Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

“We all have our best guides within us, if only we would listen.” —Jane Austen, Mansfield Park