News for Austen Enthusiasts: December 2024

Happy New Year! We hope you all enjoyed all the festivities and found some time to snuggle up with a cosy read. We'd love to hear what you've been reading and indeed, if you received any excellent bookish gifts for Christmas in the comments below. Another year has come to a close, but before we get stuck into 2025, let's have a look back at the final month of the year. 

Here's all the Jane Austen news and updates from December 2024.

Gearing up for Jane Austen's 250th

Our Jane turned 249 in the month of December, which means that around the world Jane Austen fans are gearing up to celebrate our favourite writer's 250th birthday in 2025. If you have an event you are hosting, or want to know what is on in your part of the world, you can check out this blog post for more. As the new year approaches, The Observer editorial has published an article looking at the enduring power of Austen's writing, and what she means to us now, going into the year 2025. 

Read the article at The Guardian >>

Irish Theatre to stage 'brat' Emma 

The Abbey Theatre in Dublin is staging a fun new adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. If you missed it in the summer of 2024, Charli XCX's new album 'Brat' entered the zeitgeist, with people all over the world having a self-proclaimed 'Brat Summer', marked by partying hard and living loudly. Certainly, an adaptation of Emma told through a Brat lens sounds pretty intriguing. What do you think? 

Read more at MSN >> 

Ben Miller wasn't expecting steamy Bridgerton scenes 

Actor Ben Miller, who played Lord Featherington in the first season of Bridgerton, has revealed that he was surprised to find out that the show was quite so steamy. In an interview with Alan Titchmarsh, the actor confessed that he did not know just how much hanky-panky would be in the show, telling the famous UK gardener and TV host that he thought it was all going to be a bit more 'Jane Austen'. Oh dear. 

Read more at The Liverpool Echo >>

Professors rank Jane Austen novels to mark her 249th birthday

A student journalist at the University of Alabama has asked their professors in the English faculty to rank their favourite Jane Austen novels. Though this article covers Austen on a smaller scale than we usually include here on the Austen Blog, I thought this would be a fun look into how Austen is being taught at universities today. Which novel do you think rates highly amongst academics ?

Find out at the Crimson White >>

Playing Jane Austen dress up 

Many of our readers are keen period cosplayers, donning all manner of gowns, suits, hats, reticules and bonnets to feel more immersed in the Regency world. Some have a keen eye for authentic period purchases, whilst others prefer to sew their own. In her article for The i Paper, Emily Jupp gets into the details of why so many enjoy period dress, and what exactly it is that she personally gets out of it. It's a fascinating read! 

Read it at The i Paper >>

Book reviewers set expectations for 2025 

There's a good chance that, if you're a big Jane Austen fan, you're also a big reader more generally. I personally love to take the opportunity at the end of the year to reflect on my favourite reads from the year past and find out what's on the horizon for the upcoming one. Luckily, there's lots of people out there whose job it is to read through piles of advanced reader copies and tell us readers what to invest our hard-earned cash on. 

Here's some upcoming titles from Elle >>

AS ALWAYS, WE WOULD LOVE TO KNOW IF WE HAVE MISSED ANYTHING, AS WELL AS ALL YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NEWS!