Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Black Girl in a Big Dress Let's Watch and Discuss

 

Black Girl n a Big Dress
https://www.facebook.com/BlackGirlinaBigDress/

Event: JASNA CWNY April Meeting
Topic: “Black Girl in a Big Dress” Webseries, let's watch and discuss
                Discussion led by Alice VillaseƱor, JASNA-CWNY member
When: Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 1 pm EDT
Where:   IN PERSON at Pittsford Barnes and Noble, Community Room
 
Black Girl in a Big Dress is a web series featuring “an African American Anglophile cosplayer in love with the Victorian Era” (See the “About” Section of the BGBD YouTube Channel). For the April meeting, Alice will facilitate a discussion about the first season, which can be viewed on Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/@BlackGirlinaBigDress. Please try to watch as much of the first season as you can so that we can have a lively conversation (it will take about 30-minutes). 

I think you will enjoy both the series and the discussion.

 

 

Friday, March 8, 2024

Jane Austen for Young Adults

 

By Cassandra Austen, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen

Event: JASNA CWNY March Meeting
Topic: A discussion of young adult versions of Jane Austen’s books
When: Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 12:30 pm EDT. Note the earlier start time.
                It's a Barnes and Noble thing.
Where:   IN PERSON at Pittsford Barnes and Noble, Community Room

Jane Austen started writing when she was in her teens. Many of her fans started reading her works in their teens, and now her works are enjoyed by young and old. Many authors have taken Jane Austen's works a step further and written Jane Austen themed novels specifically for young adults. 

Join us for a discussion of works written for young adults. The discussion will be lead by Kate Jorgensen with assistance from Celia Easton. Try a young adult novel and let us know what you think of it. Here are a few websites you can visit for suggestions:

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

London Farrington Coach 1835
James Pollard (1792 - 1867)

Event: JASNA CWNY February Meeting
Topic:            "Dormeuse to Donkey Carts
The Horse-drawn Carriages in the writings and life of Jane Austen"
                       A talk on carriages by Amy Bracey, British carriage expert & author
When: Saturday, February 17, 2024 at 1 pm EST
Where: Online through Zoom 
Registration: To register click HERE

Catherine Morland was forced to take a coach home alone when General Tilney threw her out of Northanger Abbey, an egregious breach of etiquette. Mr. Knightly usually preferred to walk. Carriages were an important theme in Jane Austen's work. Please join us on Zoom as Amy Bracey explores the topic of carriages in Jane Austen's work.

About our speaker:

Amy Bracey regards the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as being the golden era of horse-drawn transport with some of the most beautiful carriages being designed and built. They were a way to get from A to B, a representation of social standing, and a magnet for the ladies! Jane Austen both experienced and wrote about carriages in all these ways - themes that will be explored and illustrated in this talk.

Amy has had a passion for horse-drawn carriages since childhood. After spending 15 years working in museums, her interest in carriages turned to a career with her work for The National Trust as a researcher, cataloguing the carriages within their collections. In 2015 she took on the role of Project Curator for The Carriage Foundation. Here she deals with the day-to-day running of a charity and advises museums and individuals across the globe on the care, conservation, research and interpretation of historic carriages.

She has lectured on various subjects with a connection to horse-drawn carriages for groups and organisations across the UK, Europe and America and regularly contributes articles to magazines and journals. In 2020 she published her first book 'The A to Z of Carriages' and has several more in the pipeline.

Please join us for what promises to be a fascinating discussion. It's on Zoom so no carriage is required. 
 

Monday, February 5, 2024

JASNY CWNY Buffalo area event

Buffalo Area Event

Event:     Buffalo Area JASNA CWNY meeting
Topic:      Book Discussion: The Mysteries of Udolpho
                Catherine Morland's Favorite book
When:     Saturday, February 24, 2:00 PM
                Note this is not on the third Saturday
Where:   Clarence Library Meeting Room

Please join us for this Buffalo Area event. Enjoy some tea and Jane Austen and get your dose of Gothic horrors. That will be fun even if you haven't read the book.

Susan Harris-Gamard writes:

Announcing our February meeting! Trying to get as many people to attend this one as we can. I am collaborating with the librarian at Clarence Library to get more attendees interested, both from the high school and the community. I thought it would be fun to read The Mysteries of Udolpho since Austen mentions the book in Northanger Abbey, but it is long, so if you aren't up to it, still please come to discuss regardless. A lively discussion with people of various backgrounds will add to the atmosphere.

More events are in the works. As always, if anyone has ideas or even better connections please don't hesitate to reach out. 

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Buffalo Area JASNA CWNY Book Discussion

Event: Buffalo area JASNA CWNY Book Club Meeting

When: Saturday, January 27, 2024 at 1:30 PM Note Time Change

Where: Clarence Library Meting Room

Please Join us, here are the details:

There will be tea and biscuits. 
First 15 to arrive will receive a free Jane Austen book mark. 
The discussion will revolve around:
Turning a Beast into a Prince: Heroes and Villains in Austen's World
2 Books: 
Pride and Prejudice By Jane Austen
The Darcy Myth by Rachel Feder

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Jane and Cassandra Austen Birthday Luncheon


 

Happy JANEuary
We are celebrating Jane and Cassandra Austen's Birthdays
on Saturday, January 20 2024

Register Now!
“How Happy are Austen’s ‘Happy Endings’?”
A talk by Inger Brodey, Associate Professor of English and
Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina

Saturday, January 20, 2024
10:30 am - 2:00 pm EST

In Person at The Highlands At Pittsford
100 Hahnemann Trail, Pittsford, NY 14534

Pre-registration and pre-payment required.
You can register and pay by clicking HERE
Registration required by January 12


Professor Inger S. B. Brodey is a lifelong Janeite and well-known Austen scholar. She has served on the JASNA Board of Directors, and as a JASNA Traveling Lecturer. She has twice been the JASNA North American plenary lecturer at AGMs, and she has given AGM breakout sessions on a variety of topics. She also serves on the editorial board of Persuasions.

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she has won several campus-wide teaching awards for classes that include “Studies in Jane Austen,” a first-year seminar on “Jane Austen Then and Now,” and “Global Jane Austen.” Her new book, Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness, is coming out with Johns Hopkins University Press next month. She is also founder and director of the annual Jane Austen Summer Program, and co-host of the Jane Austen and Co. web series.


Wednesday, November 29, 2023

“Covered/Uncovered – The Shawl and the Regency Era”

 

Close-up of the border of a Kashmir shawl fragment
credit: K. Jorgensen,

"Fanny, William must not forget my shawl if he goes to the East Indies; and I shall give him a commission for anything else that is worth having. I wish he may go to the East Indies, that I may have my shawl. I think I will have two shawls, Fanny." Mansfield Park, chapter 31

Event: JASNA CWNY December Meeting
Topic: “Covered/Uncovered – The Shawl and the Regency Era”
                by Kate Jorgensen, JASNA-CWNY member
When:    Saturday, December 9, 2023, 1 pm EST (2nd Saturday)
Where: IN PERSON at Pittsford Barnes and Noble, Community Room

Please join us when Kate Jorgensen, a Central and Western NY region member, will lead us through the world of Regency shawls. Kate writes:

Throughout Jane Austen’s life, shawls were a popular and versatile fashion accessory.  But have you ever considered what the difference is between a Kashmir shawl and one produced in Britain or where the paisley pattern originated?  Have you thought about how shawl production in Britain is linked to the First Industrial Revolution?  What role did Empress Josephine play?  Can you really draw a Kashmir shawl through a small ring?  Please join us as Kate Jorgensen provides an overview that explores these questions.  During our time together we will talk about the shawl and its history, including its path to Britain, the role of the shawl in Regency fashion and how changes in textile production and trade impacted on shawl manufacture from the design process to spinning and weaving to finishing.  We’ll even bust a couple shawl myths in the process! 

Kate spoke to us last year about Regency textiles. She has a lifelong love of fibers and textiles.

Kate's bio:

Kate Jorgensen is a life-long learner, reader, and hand arts enthusiast with an interest in history and how it links to who we are today.  Kate has three bachelor’s degrees (English Education, Chemistry, and Textiles and Clothing) from The Ohio State University, an M.B.A. from Capital University, and an M.L.I.S. from Drexel University.  She also holds certifications in project management, Agile product ownership and change management and is a Six Sigma Green Belt.  Kate’s senior thesis was on microscopic evaluation of fibers from wrappings retrieved from mummy bundles and she began her career working with textiles and other artifacts retrieved from trunks from an 1865 shipwreck. Today Kate works on sustainability initiatives, focusing on changing what we are doing today to preserve the planet for tomorrow.  Find Kate at https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinejorgensen/

AND
Save the Date: Jane Austen Birthday Luncheon

Event:            JASNA CWNY Jane Austen Birthday Luncheon
Topic:            “How Happy are Austen’s ‘Happy Endings’?” 
                       A talk by Inger Brodey, Associate Professor of English and 
                       Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina
When:            Saturday, January 20, 2024, 10:30 am - 2:00 pm EST
Where:           IN PERSON at The Highlands at Pittsford
                       100 Hahnemann Trail, Pittsford, NY 14534
Registration: Pre-registration and pre-payment required. 
                       You can register and pay by clicking HERE