You are cordially invited to a most happy assembly:

Flourish

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies Zoom!

Flourish

A Free Virtual Jane Austen Mini-Fest Hosted by the Glendale Public Library




Although this virtual event has already taken place from noon-6 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, 2020, recordings of the panels are available below and on our dedicated YouTube playlist. Please feel free to send us your feedback in this short survey.



The Glendale Public Library is proud to present a virtual lineup of over 25 Jane Austen experts and enthusiasts from around the world, from critically acclaimed authors to a Tony-award-nominated composer. Come laugh and learn with us!

For more information, please contact [email protected].



Jane, Universally Acknowledged: Austen Fandom in the 21st Century

Join a conversation about the joys and pains of what it means to be an Austen fan, now and in the recent past. These expert panelists will talk about the trends they see in Austen fandom, whether or not it’s under the label “Janeite.” Explore the ways that Austen-inspired fandom and fan culture define, shape, and enrich our communities, as well as influence our readings of the novels, now and going forward.

Featuring Holly Luetkenhaus (Austentatious: The Evolving World of Jane Austen Fans), Zoe Weinstein (Austentatious: The Evolving World of Jane Austen Fans), and Deborah Yaffe (Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the World of Jane Austen Fandom), with moderator Devoney Looser (The Making of Jane Austen).


 


No DeLorean Required: Jane Austen Meets Time Travel
Have you ever wondered “What if I could meet Jane Austen through time travel?” These authors not only wondered about it; they wrote books about traveling back to the Regency or finding Jane displaced in modern times. Join a lively discussion about everything from the pressure of writing dialogue for Jane herself to the horror of imagining a world with no Mr. Darcy!

Featuring Ada Bright ("The Austen Adventures" series), Kathleen A. Flynn (The Jane Austen Project), Rachel Givney (Jane in Love), and Cass Grafton ("The Austen Adventures" series), with moderator Marlene Jacobson (Glendale Public Library staff).

Unfortunately, Rachel Givney was unable to take part in this panel.





A Taste for Austen: Sonali Dev, Uzma Jalaluddin & Soniah Kamal in Conversation
When Mr. Darcy said, "I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love," he may have been onto something, but what of the love of food? In many ways the Austen-inspired works we will be talking about will cover the many flavors of love. From familial to romantic, to everything glorious and agonizing in-between, Soniah Kamal (Unmarriageable), Sonali Dev (Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors) and Uzma Jalaluddin (Ayesha at Last) will be discussing the world of Austen-inspired works, the language of love and what it's like to write Mr. Darcy. 

Featuring Sonali Dev ("The Rajes" series), Uzma Jalaluddin (Ayesha at Last), and Soniah Kamal (Unmarriageable: Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan), with moderator Bianca Hernandez (Bookhoarding, The Jane Austen Universe; Drunk Austen).





A Daily Dose of Jane: The Austen Antidote for 2020
Husband and wife scholar-professor team, Devoney Looser and George Justice, met over a conversation about Austen that turned into an argument about Mansfield Park. Their nearly 25-year marriage has been fortified by a daily dose of Jane! Looser, who recently edited The Daily Jane Austen: A Year of Quotes (2019, University of Chicago Press), and Justice, the editor of the W. W. Norton Critical Edition of Emma (now in its 4th edition), will talk with each other and with you about the best ways to get your recommended daily dose of Austen, especially in bits and bite-sized chunks, in these difficult times.

Featuring Devoney Looser (The Daily Jane Austen: A Year of Quotes) and George Justice (W. W. Norton Critical Edition of Emma).





From P&P to RPG: Gaming Jane with the Good Society
Ever wanted to be a main character in an Austen novel? Good Society, a Jane Austen tabletop roleplaying game, lets you do just that. Join Hayley and Vee from Storybrewers Roleplaying for a live demo of the game, featuring two members of the Austen Acolytes Book Club. There will be dreadful scandals, impeccable manners, and of course, romance.

Featuring Hayley Gordon (Storybrewers Roleplaying), Vee Hendro (Storybrewers Roleplaying), and members of The Austen Acolytes, a local Jane Austen book club, including Kathleen Beauchamp, Anna Caggiano, Sarah Klught, and Hannah Verdin.





Frock Flicks & the Bill and Ted Test: Austen-Era Fashion in History vs. Hollywood
Clothing in film adaptations of Jane Austen’s works really runs the gamut—from truly awful to absolutely spot-on. In this lively discussion, our panel of costume experts examines it all. With an eye toward historic accuracy as well as character-appropriate choices, we ask--Who got it right? Who got it wrong? And what happened to all the hairpins?

Featuring Trystan L. Bass (Frock Flicks), Hilary Davidson (Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion; @BillAndTedTest), Sarah Lorraine (Frock Flicks), and Kendra Van Cleave (Frock Flicks; Démodé Couture; 18th Century Hair & Wig Styling: History & Step-by-Step Techniques) with moderator Laura Whitlock (Laura Whitlock Millinery).





"I Dearly Love a Laugh": Jane Austen's Influential Wit and Humor
Jane Austen is one of the wittiest writers in the English language. Her books are packed with humor, from wry observations of human failings to snark, sass, and epic shade; she delights in "follies and absurdities" and "anything ridiculous." Our panelists will discuss the ways in which Jane Austen makes them laugh and examine the influence of her humor on their own Austen-inspired comic ventures.

Featuring Mark Brownlow (Cake & Courtship), Amy Cooke-Hodgson (Austentatious Improv), Bianca Hernandez (Bookhoarding; The Jane Austen Universe; Drunk Austen), and Rose Servitova (The Longbourn Letters; The Watsons), with moderator Anna Caggiano (Glendale Public Library staff).





Jane, the Musicals: The Austen Trilogy of Paul Gordon
Tony award nominee Paul Gordon and his producer wife, Stephanie Kane Gordon, will answer our questions about the journeys of his three popular Jane Austen musicals from text to stage. 

Featuring Stephanie Kane Gordon (producer) and Paul Gordon (composer of the musicals Emma, Pride & Prejudice, and Sense & Sensibility; plus Jane Eyre, Daddy Long Legs, and Estella Scrooge).






Participants

The Glendale Public Library greatly appreciates all the panelists who have so generously donated their time to this event, all for the love of Jane and libraries.

Please note that these bios are still being updated and photos are still being added.