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Journalist and author
The Line of Thought
. . . to dream over books and loiter at street corners and let the line of thought dip deep into the stream.
--Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
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Write like Jane Austen
Jane Austen, writing instructor. Intimidated much? I wouid be. Although Austen gave kind and useful novel-writing advice to her...
Deborah Yaffe
Mar 18, 2018
On this day in 1814. . .
Thirty-first in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Two centuries ago, Jane Austen had spent her day...
Deborah Yaffe
Mar 8, 2018
The fifth-grade Jane Austen
Is Jane Austen hard to read? “Absolutely not!” I hear you Janeites saying. “She’s a master of precise and lucid prose! Her dialogue...
Deborah Yaffe
Feb 8, 2018
More reasons to visit Chawton
The most beloved Austen site in England -- Jane Austen’s House Museum, aka Chawton Cottage, the Hampshire home where Austen wrote or...
Deborah Yaffe
Feb 1, 2018
On this day in 1813. . .
Thirtieth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Two centuries ago, Jane Austen was brimming over with the joy...
Deborah Yaffe
Jan 29, 2018
Christmas tranquility and tedium at Mansfield Park
For those of us with school-age children, Christmas week provides a delightful break from the rhythms of the academic calendar: No rising...
Deborah Yaffe
Dec 25, 2017
Another Austen anniversary
The year marking the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s death is almost over, but one more major Austen anniversary lies ahead of us: 2018 is...
Deborah Yaffe
Dec 14, 2017
On this day in 1815. . .
Twenty-ninth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. It’s an occupational hazard of the writing life that people...
Deborah Yaffe
Dec 11, 2017
Pie and prejudice
Thanksgiving Day is upon us once again, and once again it’s time to search the works of Jane Austen – who, as an Englishwoman who never...
Deborah Yaffe
Nov 23, 2017
Men who won't take no for an answer
Jane Austen anticipates current events in Hollywood: Northanger Abbey, ch. 15: “ ‘Did you ever hear the old song ‘Going to One Wedding...
Deborah Yaffe
Oct 15, 2017
On this day in 1813. . .
Twenty-sixth in an occasional series of excerpts from Jane Austen's letters. Janeites often wonder how Jane Austen would feel about her...
Deborah Yaffe
Sep 24, 2017
The bicentenary lives on
The Jane Austen bicentenary is already a month in the rearview mirror, but cute little tie-in pieces are still turning up online –...
Deborah Yaffe
Aug 20, 2017
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