Jane Austen’s momentous 250 th  birthday—spoiler alert: it’s tomorrow!--can be celebrated anywhere, of course, but it must be extra special to celebrate it in a place steeped in authentic Regency history. In other words: Oh, to be in England this week, for events like these:   * Bath: The Jane Austen Festival’s Yuletide Jane Austen Birthday Ball was surely one of the most coveted tickets of the year, and no wonder: The ball was held in the storied Pump Room , a prime gatheri

Every author dreams of having her work spotlighted by a celebrity with a book club, an online following, and a guaranteed power to pump up sales. Reese Witherspoon , anyone? Barack Obama’s annual best-of list , maybe? Oprah Winfrey (oh, please, dear Lord)?   Jane Austen got the pre-Internet version of this boost when the Prince Regent asked/commanded her to dedicate Emma to him, and today she hardly needs the extra publicity—her books are still selling well , 250 years after

In her lifetime, Jane Austen may not have been as famous and revered as she deserved to be. But in death, she’s making up for lost time.   Case in point: The BBC’s talk-radio programming schedule for the next two weeks, which looks, if you squint, like All Austen, All The Time .   The soft opening took place back in early November, with the Radio 4 broadcast of a new two-part adaptation of Northanger Abbey.  Over the weekend, the channel’s digital counterpart, Radio 4Extra, a

How famous is Jane Austen? Let us assess the evidence: the screen adaptations, the TikTok mentions, the T-shirts and fridge magnets and tote bags.   Or we could take a trip to the Grolier Club in New York City, a private club dedicated to books and the book arts, where a free exhibit titled “ Paper Jane: 250 Years of Austen ” is opening today.   The exhibit, which runs through Valentine’s Day, includes “a kaleidoscopic mix of 110 objects, including rare first editions, manusc

It’s here at last: The final month of this Austen 250 year—which just happens to be the very month in which we will commemorate Jane Austen’s 250 th  birthday. As we march inexorably towards the great day of December 16, the pace of celebratory events is hardly slackening—quite the contrary, in fact.   Case in point: Over the next two weeks, at least eleven libraries (public, academic, or research-focused) in England and the US have Austen 250 events planned—tea parties, movi