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: Glamified version of the iconic portrait of Austen by her sister, Cassandra, circa 1810

Austen’s original writing desk, which was returned to the Jane Austen’s House in Chawton in 1957

Chawton Cottage, England

LA Times Festival of Books 2022 — Saturday, April 23 & Sunday, April 24, 2022

~ Upcoming Free Zoom Events ~

Anyone can join our monthly free Zoom presentations by notable scholars, authors and others

with an interest in all things Austen-related!

Registration Now Open for

“Jane Austen’s Ordinary and Extraordinary Life”

with Viki Barie

Saturday, May 21, 2022

via Zoom at 11 a.m. PDT

Why is Jane Austen, well, Jane Austen? Why did her mother offer to send her young daughters to school? What did Jane and Cassandra do all day? Who was the most popular writer of the Regency? For all these answers and more, save the date and join us on Zoom, Saturday, May 21, 2022.

According to Viki: “Her characters are timeless, but she was a product of a truly revolutionary era. Her family was a uniquely talented and nurturing one, connecting her to national events and the greater world.”

Join us to gain some deeper insights to Jane Austen, her life and times.

Viki attended her first JASNA AGM in 1983 (St. Louis) and became a JASNA Life Member in 1987. She has served as Regional Coordinator (St. Louis, Missouri, and Sacramento), JASNA Membership Chair, JASNA Churches Committee member (2006 to 2017), and held many other local and regional offices. Viki has taught classes on Jane Austen at the University of California, Irvine extension program, as well as at various local and regional JASNA groups. She has been closely involved with the Orange County reading group since 1994. For her day job, Viki is a fundraiser at Providence St. Joseph Hospital Foundation in Orange. She has over 30 years of experience in major and principal giving, annual giving, special events, grantwriting, volunteer development, and nonprofit management. Viki earned a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Geology from Washington State University at Pullman, Washington.

REGISTER HERE: Jane Austen’s Ordinary and Extraordinary Life (constantcontact.com)

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Save the Date!

Saturday, July 16, 2022

“Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës”

Presented by Devoney Looser

via Zoom

Registration opens in June

Devoney Looser, Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, will give us a preview of her new book on the Porter sisters, which will be released on Sept. 6. Devoney has authored or edited nine books on literature by women. Her book The Making of Jane Austen was named a Publishers Weekly Best Summer Book (nonfiction). Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Salon and Slate. She’s also played roller derby as Stone Cold Jane Austen and served as plenary speaker at multiple JASNA Annual General Meetings. Devoney earned her PhD in English, with certification in women’s studies, from SUNY Stony Brook, N.Y., and graduated summa cum laude from Augsburg College in Minneapolis with an English Honors BA.

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Upcoming In-Person Events

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.

“Persuasion and Plesiosaurs: Jane Austen and Mary Anning in Lyme Regis”

Presented by

Peter Graham, Jan Fahey, and Lia Poyatos

Saturday, June 11, 2022

from 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Registration and Continental Breakfast at 9:00 AM

Program 10:00 AM-3:30 PM includes catered box lunch

Join us as we explore Lyme Regis on the Dorset Coast, made famous in Persuasion, as a setting for Jane Austen and Mary Anning, two remarkable women who were contemporaries there in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Each became a force in her respective field, and is still revered to this day. Peter Graham will focus on Jane Austen’s life and how Lyme Regis influenced Persuasion. Jan Fahey will describe the life and work of Mary Anning, a lifetime resident of Lyme Regis, and her passion for the diverse fossils she discovered there. Together, Peter and Jan will then examine the women’s differences and surprising similarities. Lia Poyatos will speak about Lyme Regis.

LOCATION: Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Student Union Auditorium

800 N. State College Blvd.

Fullerton, CA 92831

Parking: Free parking will be available in the State College Parking Structure (SCPS) across from the Titan Student Union.

REGISTER HERE: Persuasion and Plesiosaurs: Jane Austen and Mary Anning in Lyme Regis (constantcontact.com)

DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION: MAY 30

Please be sure to select your lunch when you register.

No cash can be exchanged on campus. You will need to bring a credit card for transactions such as White Elephant sales and raffle tickets.

Covid-19 Safety Precautions for the In-Person Meeting

Out of an abundance of caution and concern for the health and safety of our members, while COVID-19 remains a risk, we respectfully require that all participants adhere to the following safety measures while attending JASNA SW in-person events.

Vaccination Policy: We require all attendees to provide proof of full vaccination along with proof of booster shot upon arrival. We will not accept proof of a negative COVID-19 test. No exceptions.

Mask Policy: Attendees are encouraged to wear masks at all times unless they are actively eating and drinking in designated areas. All attendees wearing a mask should wear it over the nose and mouth and under the chin. Medical grade surgical masks are strongly recommended. Masks with exhalation valves, masks made of loosely woven fabrics, scarves, buffs, bandanas, gaiters and face shields alone (inadequate protection) are not recommended. Masks will be available upon request.

Stay home if you are ill. If you or someone in your group doesn’t feel well, has exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 or has been in contact with someone with COVID-19 in the previous 10 days, we ask that you not attend.

Saturday, December 3, 2022

The Grand, Long Beach

Full Day Meeting IN-PERSON
“Jane Austen and the Musical Arts”
Musical Performance and Talk by Flutist Ann Erwin and Pianist Edie Orloff
History of Dance in Jane Austen’s Time by Cara King
Country Dancing led by Cara King
December 3, 2022 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
The Grand Event Center, Long Beach

New Date! May 6, 2023

(This event was postponed due to COVID.)

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

Reading, Film and Game Groups

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

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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.

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“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