News for Austen Enthusiasts: June 2021

The summer is here, even if the weather doesn't quite reflect the season! As usual, there's always news in the world of Jane Austen. Here's everything you might have missed last month.

An update on the upcoming Netflix Persuasion 

After the success of Bridgerton, Netflix are keen to keep the period dramas coming. They recently dropped some first look photos of Dakota Johnson, Cosmo Jarvis and Henry Golding in costume and they're looking absolutely fabulous. The film is coming in 2022.

Read more in Cosmopolitan >>

An Austen Family link to abolitionist cause revealed

Devoney Looser, a professor at Arizona State University, recently discovered that Jane's brother, Henry, was present at the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, demonstrating a possible enthusiasm for abolitionist causes within the family. Our way of thinking about Regency history is changing and developing faster than ever before, and Looser's research is an interesting revelation.

Find out more about her research on the AP >>

Bowen Yang joins the cast of LGBTQ Pride and Prejudice adaptation

The SNL star is the latest to join the cast of Fire Island, a riff on Pride and Prejudice set to star an ace cast of Asian-American actors and centre the experience of a gay couple at the legendary Long Island destination.

Find out more at Time>>

Sotheby's delays sale of incredible library 

Sotheby's have pressed pause on the sale of the Honresfield Library collection so that national institutions like the British Library and Bronte parsonage are able to raise funds to prevent the sale of the collection to a private buyer. The collection includes a huge number of rare and valuable items, including first edition copies of Jane Austen's works and rare examples of Emily Bronte's handwritten poetry. 

Read more on the BBC >>

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