News for Austen Enthusiasts : July 2024

It’s August and the countdown is on. “What countdown?” I hear you cry. The countdown to the Jane Austen Festival of course! With the 2024 Jane Austen Festival falling on September 13th - 22nd, it’s only just over a month until we welcome Austen fans from all over the world to Bath for a week of celebrations of all things Austen and Regency. There’s so much on, from reticule-making workshops to fencing to ghost walks of the city. If you’ve been hemming and hawing about coming to this year’s festival, now’s the time to get it booked! A full programme of events is available at this link. There’s only so much time to get your hats and gloves together for the Grand Promenade!

Whilst you’re getting all of that booked, here’s all the Jane Austen news and updates from July 2024. 

New Jane Austen tradition to take place on Box Hill

Anyone who has spent a little time living in the British capital knows that a day out to Box Hill is a must for Londoners when the weather picks up. Austen knew as much when she wrote the Box Hill picnic scene into her novel Emma. The spectacular views from the top of the hill make it the perfect spot to spend a sunny day, which is why you’ll still find the car park packed out and the hillside swarming with families today. The hill and its surrounds are currently in the care of the National Trust, who have collaborated with the local Leatherhead Museum to bring a little Janeite fun to the area. July marked their first ever Jane Austen picnic, with full Regency costume encouraged. The volunteers hope to make it an annual tradition. 

Read more at the BBC >>

Jane Austen statue featured by Atlas Obscura

Travel curio aggregator Atlas Obscura have published an article celebrating the statue of Jane Austen in Basingstoke, near the author’s birthplace in Steventon. The statue was erected almost fifty years ago to celebrate Jane Austen’s 200th birthday. The article invites readers to add their own details and expand on what is there already. Austen fans hoping to embark on their own Austen tour of England should add this to the list. 

Read the article on Atlas Obscura >>

Another dress-up day at Chawton

Summer means Regency costume, apparently! Regency Dress-up Day was held at the Jane Austen’s House museum in Chawton on July 18th, its date chosen to commemorate the date of Austen’s death. Fans donned their Regency glad rags and descended upon Chawton House to celebrate Austen’s life and work. 

Read more at the Daily Echo >>

Jane Austen Centre features in Forbes

We were delighted to spot ourselves in a new Forbes article about how to plan the perfect three-day trip to Bath. We feature amongst a number of other tourist attractions and a bunch of gorgeous bookshops that any bookish Austen fan will go wild for. 

Read the whole article at Forbes >>

Florida Commissioner thinks Jane Austen is… American?

Those of us who like to keep abreast of the literary education space (okay, I work in a school library, so maybe this is niche) will be familiar with the incredibly odd book-banning practices that seem to always be haunting Florida school libraries. In a new, perplexing development, the Commissioner of Education for the state, Manny Diaz Jr., has included Pride and Prejudice on his list of American Pride reads for the month of July. Huh?

Find out more at LitHub >>

Jane Austen fans lose fight to save hotel 

In May’s edition of the Jane Austen News, we reported on the campaign to save a Southampton hotel from conversion to student flats. The Dolphin Hotel, where Austen celebrated her eighteenth birthday, is set to become student accommodation despite the protests of many Jane Austen fans, who argue that the hotel should be preserved as a site of historical interest. Unfortunately, the planning process looks set to move forward. 

Read more at the BBC >>

Montblanc releases Austen pen collection 

Fans of fancy pens will be delighted to find out that Montblanc have released a collection of four limited edition pens celebrating Jane Austen’s life and work. The Writers Edition collection aims to take inspiration from many aspects of Jane Austen’s life and work. They’re very pretty, but will cost you a pretty penny, with the cheapest pen clocking in at over $1000 USD. If you want to scratch the itch, but don’t have that kind of cash to drop, you can peruse our Writing Desk collection instead. 

Read more about the collection at L’Officiel >>

Global voices feature on Booker Prize longlist 

Literary prize fans were excited to find out which titles would feature on the longlist for this year’s Booker Prize. Three British authors have been nominated for the award - Hisham Matar, Sarah Perry and Samantha Harvey - with Native American and Dutch voices appearing on the list for the first time ever. Americans make up almost half of the list, with six U.S. titles featured. The shortlist will be released in mid-September. Which titles are you most excited about? 

Read more at the Guardian >>

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

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