News for Austen Enthusiasts : October 2023

The nights are getting longer, the days closing in. The clocks have been wound back an hour and it's chilling down outside for the winter. I don't know about you, but when it gets like this, I want to do nothing more than cosy up with a book, and what's cosier than going back to our favourite Jane Austen novel? Though the year is slowing to its end, the Jane Austen news never ends.

AI Jane Austen overrun by spam

It feels like everyone is talking about Artificial Intelligence this year. Last month Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the platform was launching 28 chatbots that would allow users to chat with an array of famous faces, including Jane Austen. The pages are only in beta thus far, but a brief perusal at Jane's page is uninspiring and, thus far, littered with spammy posts from users who don't understand what it's for. Yikes! Perhaps there is better yet to come.

Jane Austen International Film Festival open to submissions

Have you got a film in your back pocket? Maybe a short that you've been labouring over for the last little while? Good news, the Jane Austen International Film Festival, based in Bath, is now open for submissions. Though the competition is named for our favourite author, submissions are not limited to historical and costume dramas, welcoming submissions across an array of genres and formats.

Learn more about how to submit >>

Henry Austen Hotel Impresses Guests

We wrote several moons ago now about a project that was underway to transform Henry Austen’s former townhouse in Marylebone, London, into a luxury hotels. Well, it’s open now! The hotelier couple responsible for the renovation have transformed the space into a modern, yet still characteristically Georgian, luxury experience, with small but not tacky nods to the author herself in the names of the different suites. The experience will not come cheap, however, with rooms starting at £595 per night.

Read the full review at MailPlus >>

Ukrainian view of UK fogged by Pride and Prejudice

It’s common in non-English speaking countries for people to learn English via our cultural exports - TV, film and literature. In Ukraine, it’s common for Pride and Prejudice to be taught in schools, which informs the Ukrainian view of what life is like here in Great Britain. In this article for the Kyiv Post, Elvira Kasimova writes about how her expectations of living in the UK were challenged after moving here in the wake of the Russian invasion in 2022.

Read in the Kyiv Post >>

New Period Piece hits Apple TV+

Here at the Jane Austen blog, we don’t just love Jane Austen - we can’t get enough of anything with a bit of period drama and romance. Fans of all things costume drama can get excited for the new Apple TV+ show, The Buccaneers. The show follows a group of young New Yorkers in the 1870s who decide to travel to England to find husbands. The show is drawing comparisons to Sanditon. It premieres on Apple TV+ on November 8th.

Bridgerton Star hints at Season 3 release date

We’re big fans of Shonda Rimes’ raunchy Regency drama Bridgerton, so we’ve been eagerly awaiting news of the next instalment. In a recent interview, Adjoa Andoh, who plays Lady Danbury on the show, hinted that a new season was just around the corner, saying that we should expect the third season sometime next year. Exciting stuff for 2024!

Read the full update at Screen Rant >>

As always, we would love to know if we have missed anything, as well as all your thoughts on the news!

If you don't want to miss a beat when it comes to Jane Austen, make sure you are signed up to the Jane Austen newsletter for exclusive updates and discounts from our Online Gift Shop.