On Tuesday, as you may have heard, we celebrated Jane Austen’s 250 th  birthday. Some of us, however, celebrated more officially than others: The governors of at least three U.S. states apparently signed proclamations declaring December 16, 2025, to be “Jane Austen Day.”   I say “apparently” signed because, although these declarations—from the states of Massachusetts, Oregon, and Texas—were mentioned in various spots online, I haven’t been able to locate the proclamations on

Discovering a fellow Janeite can be a bittersweet experience. Sometimes it’s the delightful reassurance that you’re not alone in your...

Fifty years ago, the ardent Janeite collector Alberta Burke--whose husband, Henry, would go on to co-found the Jane Austen Society of...

Calling all pedantic Janeite killjoys: It’s time for you to proudly proclaim your (our) identity. At long last, the T-shirt is available...

A 250th birthday goes by many names . It can be called a semiquincentennial, a sestercentennial, a quarter millennial--even a...

The celebration of the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth won’t officially kick off until next year, but that isn’t stopping the...

The years 2011-2018 saw a host of important Jane Austen bicentenaries, both happy and sad --the 200th anniversaries of the publications...

In late 2022, I attended the Jane Austen Society of North America’s Annual General Meeting, held that year in Victoria, British Columbia....

Signs of autumn: Falling leaves. Halloween pumpkins. And the Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America, which...

I knew it! Jane Austen loves me! “Kindred spirits, indeed!” the author, dead since 1817, told me last week. “Our friendship would have...

It’s turning into a self-promoting kind of week. After taking a bow on Monday for my small contribution to the ginormous task of...

Edith Lank, who died on New Year’s Day at the age of ninety-six, was a Janeite’s Janeite. She read and reread Austen’s novels; began...