Jane Austen Day in Brighton, NY

Town of Brighton, New York-Government Today is 250th anniversary of famed English author Jane Austen's birth. Brighton, NY shares a connection with the author as our town is named after Brighton, England, a town frequently noted in Austen's work. As such, today is proclaimed as Jane Austen Day in the Town of Brighton!

 Afternoon Tea to Celebrate Jane Austen's 250th Birthday

Sunday, December 14, 2025, Asa Ransom House, Clarence, NY, 1pm

Tea at Adelaide's at the Asa Ransom House in celebration of Jane Austen's birthday! There are still spots left, see information below!

Want to learn more about tea at Adelaide's? Visit https://asaransom.com/adelaides

Cost: $46, tax and service included. Can be paid at the door using a check to Susan Harris-Gamard. Need more information? Please contact Susan directly at mailto:sharrisgamard@gmail.com.

Jane Austen Day at Barnes & Noble

 Help us introduce B&N customers to Jane Austen's Genius

Join Us as We Celebrate

Jane Austen's 250th Birthday!

The event will include information about Jane Austen, her writing, family,

and home, dancing, a cravat-tying demonstration, and more! 

There will also be birthday treats and a raffle of Austen-related items!

This event is free and open to the community, so bring your friends and family!

When: November 15, 2025, 1 – 3 pm

Where: Community Room (Second Floor), Barnes & Noble,

Pittsford Plaza, Pittsford, NY

Nagasaki Bay 1833
workshop of Kawahara Keiga
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period

Event:   JASNACWNY April Neeting
Title:     Japan in the Time of Jane Austen by Todd Mitchell
When:   April 19, 2025, 1:00 pm
Where:  In person, Barnes and Noble, Pittsford Community Room

Todd Mitchell became fascinated with Japan as a high school exchange student. He majored in East Asian Studies at the University at Buffalo, during which time he studied Japanese at Christian International University in Tokyo for a year. Todd taught English as a Second Language for over 30 years, and retired last June. He and his wife, Atsuko Nishida, celebrated by visiting family in Japan for six weeks last fall. Todd looks forward to spending more time on his hobbies of history, Japanese culture, and reenacting the War of 1812. 

See you there.

Black Lives in 18th and 19th Century Britain

Ignatius Sancho, 1768 British writer and composer
by Thomas Gainsborough
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_Sancho

Event:     Discussion led by Kate Jorgensen and Alice Villaseñor
Title:       Exploring Black Lives in 18th and 19th Century Britain
When:     March 15, 2025
Where:   In Person at Pittsford Barnes & Noble, Community Room

We will discuss a BBC Radio 4 series hosted by scholar Gretchen Gerzina. Dr. Gerzina travels to different locations in England, Wales, and Scotland to interview experts about Black people living in the United Kingdom in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

Before our meeting, please review one or both of the following compilations:

Omnibus 1: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07x15n5

Omnibus 2: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07yqp3v

Hope to see you there!

The Role of Parents in Jane Austen's Novels

JASNA CWNY

February Meeting

Event: Book Discussion

Topic: Parenting in Jane Austen's Novels

When: Saturday, February 15, 2025, 1 pm

Where:   Zoom to register click HERE

At our next meeting, Susan Harris-Gamard will lead us in a discussion of parents and the concept of
parentage in Jane Austen's novels.

Throughout Jane Austen's novels, parents play a key role not only in the lives of her characters, but
within the narrative itself. Susan will start out our discussion by exploring the variety of parents in the
novels, while focusing on the consequences of those parents’ actions. She will also be examining the
concept of parentage and the family tree and what these mean to the many parents in the novels. Her
specific focus will be on the “fallen women” in her novels, and the role of parents in their “falling”.
A lively discussion will ensue immediately afterwards. 

Please feel free to bring your own ideas about
parents and parentage to the table.

Here are three available references that Susan has provided for the meeting:
General Tilney and Tyranny: Northanger Abbey untitled

Father Figures in the Novels of Jane Austen
The Transformative “Fall”: A Structural Metaphor in Jane Austen’s Persuasion

And two more references from older issues of Persuasions if you have them:
Parental Relationships in Jane Austen’s Novels: New Perceptions on Rereading » JASNA
Breeding and Inbreeding in Mansfield Park

The meeting will be on Zoom since it is winter in Rochester. Here is the link to register for the Zoom

meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/zLJ6CqdKQeitC_bz-MtDYQ

When you register, Zoom will send you a link for the meeting.

See you on Zoom!

Orphans in Jane Austen's Novels: A Discussion

Event: A discussion led by Susan Harris-Gamard, a JASNA-CWNY member

Topic: Orphans in Jane Austen's Novels

When: Saturday, January 18, 2025, 1 pm

Where:   Zoom

Many of Jane Austen's novels have characters who have lost at least one parent. In Emma, Jane Fairfax is an orphan, and Emma Woodhouse and Frank Churchill have each lost one parent. In Persuasion, Anne Elliot has lost her mother and has a father who has, for all practical purposes, abandoned her. These characters have suffered loss yet they manage. Jane Fairfax must depend on her father's friends, Frank and Emma remain in wealthy families, and Anne Elliot is still an Elliot.

At our next meeting, Susan Harris-Gamard will lead us in a discussion of orphans in 18th century literature and Jane Austen's works. Here are two references that Susan has provided for the meeting:

https://content.e-bookshelf.de/media/reading/L-2846089-54482e95ca.pdf

https://janeausten.co.uk/blogs/extended-reading/she-was-only-anne-elliot

The meeting will be on Zoom since it is winter in Rochester. Here is the link to register for the Zoom meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Q-DJvgCfSRyd6l-BRDidiw

When you register, Zoom will send you a link for the meeting.

See you on Zoom!