Alert Janeite Lisa sent along a link to a fantastic opinion piece called “Why Jane Austen Matters,” written by a high school teacher with many disadvantaged students.

For the past two weeks Andrea’s class has been finishing up our study of the Romantic writers in England and preparing to tackle the Victorians. As a bridge between the two eras we have watched “Sense and Sensibility” and “Pride and Prejudice,” two films based on Jane Austen novels.

The 21 girls and eight boys that make up this general level English class have responded with an enthusiasm that has made our class discussions and their essays comparing the two novels a joy. They entered and left the classroom every day talking about the characters as if they were old acquaintances.

“Marianne is going to get hurt,” they worried.

“Willoughby doesn’t know what true love is,” they decided.

More important, my students have recognized themselves in novels that at first glance might seem foreign to their experience.

We keep saying it: Society changes. People do not. Do read the article, and if your cockles aren’t warmed then they are incapable of it.

Chawton House Library has issued a call for papers or panels for its “New Directions in Austen Studies” conference in July 2009. Deadline is January 16, 2009, so get going!

Thanks to Alert Janeite Lynne for the heads-up.

December is party month for Janeites, with the big event coming up in a couple of weeks: Jane Austen’s Birthday! Keep an eye out here on AustenBlog for some celebratory activities.

For Janeites in the U.S. and Canada, we strongly encourage you to check out your local JASNA region. Chances are very good that they are sponsoring a Birthday event or celebration, and many welcome non-members to try an event to see if they will enjoy becoming a JASNA member. (Hint: if you’re reading this blog, you probably will.) Turn off the computer and go meet some Janeites!

Here is a list of other upcoming events of interest to Jane Austen fans.

Through December 6, Bath, UK
What: The Northern Ballet Theatre presents Georgian-set production of The Nutcracker
Where: Theatre Royal Bath
When: 7:30 p.m.
Info: Tickets £18.50-39.50, available online

Dec 2-20, Sedalia, Missouri
What: Sedalia Celebrating Jane Austen
Where: Boonslick Regional Library, Sedalia Branch
When:

Tuesday, Dec. 2nd, 4pm, Movie “Becoming Jane”
Thursday, Dec. 4th, 4 pm, Book discussion “Sense & Sensibility”
This book will be provided by the library free to the first 19 people!
Saturday, Dec. 6th, 2pm, Movie: “Sense & Sensibility”
Tuesday, Dec. 9th, 4pm, Movie: “The Jane Austen Book Club”
Thursday, Dec. 11th, 4pm, Book Discussion “Pride & Prejudice”
Saturday, Dec. 13th, 2pm, Movie: “Pride & Prejudice”
Tuesday, Dec. 16th, 4pm, Jane Austen Birthday Party
Thursday, Dec. 18th 4pm, Book Discussion “Emma”
Saturday, Dec. 20th, 2pm, Movie: “Emma”

December 3-6, Portsmouth, UK
What: Northanger Abbey on Stage
Where: New Theatre Royal, 20-24 Guildhall Walk
When: Evenings 7:30 p.m., Saturday matinee 2:30 p.m.
Info: Tickets £6-10, available online

December 4-7, Santa Rosa, Florida
What: Pace High School Drama Department presents Pride and Prejudice
Where: High school drama room
When: Nightly 7 p.m. through Saturday, Sunday at 3 p.m.
Info: (850) 995-3600 extension 1159

December 6, Iowa City, Iowa
What: English Country Dance
Where: Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center, 28 S. Linn St.
When: 7-9 p.m.
Info: All ages are welcome. A $5 donation is requested for the musicians.

December 6, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania
What: Book signing with Diane Wilkes, author of The Tarot of Jane Austen, and Margaret C. Sullivan, author of The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World
Where: Barnes & Noble, the Metroplex, 2300 Chemical Road
When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Info: Come out and meet the Editrix! And Diane tells us she will do a one-card tarot reading for anyone who buys a Jane Austen tarot deck. We are informed there will be a marching band on the premises as well. This is exciting news for ex-band geeks like your humble servant.

December 11, Odessa, Delaware
What: Margaret C. Sullivan speaks on Christmas traditions in Jane Austen’s time
Where: Historic Odessa Foundation and will sign copies of her book, The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World
When: 7-9 p.m.
Info: We would love to meet AustenBlog readers at this event!

December 11, Provo, Utah
What: Staged reading of new stage adaptation of Persuasion by Melissa Leilani Larson.
Where: Provo Theatre Company, 105 E 100 N
When: 7:30 p.m.
Info: Tickets are $5 at the door, all donations are tax-deductible.

We find we must speak our opinion most decidedly about this story, which everyone has no doubt seen by now, about well-meaning Janeites (or, one assumes, more properly their family) who have embarked upon a campaign of dumping their loved ones’ ashes, without permission, in the garden at Chawton Cottage.

In an open letter to the Jane Austen Society, collections manager Louise West wrote: ‘While we understand many admirers of Jane Austen would love to have ashes laid here, it is something we do not allow.

‘It is distressing for visitors to see mounds of human ash, particularly so for our gardener. Also, it is of no benefit to the garden!’

“Mounds of human ash?” Mounds of human ash? MOUNDS? We would like to say to anyone who has performed such an action or is contemplating it:

What the Ferrars is wrong with you people?

It’s one thing to discreetly sprinkle a tiny amount of Aunt “Jane’s” earthly remains in the hedgerows, much like Tim McGraw surreptitiously sprinkled a bit of his old man on the mound at Citizens Bank Park whilst throwing out the first ball during the World Series. It’s quite clear from the article that no one at the museum would object to such a tribute (or likely even know about it), and it’s a nice bit of symbolism. But MOUNDS? And without asking permission?

We always defend the wackier manifestations of our fandom to the snooty and humorless Out There, because we know nearly all of it is tongue in cheek and meant in good fun. Hey, we’ve got the action figure, we’ve got the finger puppet, we snark about Team Darcy occasionally but we’re not sitting in some ivory tower wagging our finger at the unwashed hordes disrespecting saintly Jane. We run a BLOG for crying in a bucket. But there is a line and yes, mounds of human remains left in gardens crosses it! Such actions display a level of cluelessness that leaves us quite at a loss.

This sort of behavior leaves your fellow Janeites open to the mockery of the media and the Great Unwashed (two cohorts that no doubt would share a great deal of real estate in a Venn diagram), such as a commentary in the Guardian by Charlotte Higgins:

Anyway, leaving aside the Gardeners’ Question Time minutiae, what on earth is going on here? I like an Austen novel as much as the next person – I probably reread my way through the complete works every couple of years – but I am baffled as to why one would want to be laid to rest among the flowerbeds of Chawton. The only explanation is the currently unstoppable power of the Austen cult, fuelled by Colin Firth in a wet blouse, by Andrew Davies’s adaptations, and by Hollywood. I’m all for enjoying books, but the cult of Austen has reached ridiculous proportions. In a post-feminist world that should know better, she seems to be adored as the comforting provider of romantic, happy-endings nonsense instead of the sharp and acerbic social satirist she deserves to be seen as.

Oh, don’t worry, Charlotte dear. Some of us not only recognize the satire and humor, but revel in it, and even expand upon with things such as a Cluebat of Janeite Righteousness. We use it on lazy, elitist journalists who herd all Janeites into a box and then sneer at us. Our Cluebat, let us show you it.

Naturally we will always defend our fellow Janeites, especially against such unfair, lazy “journalism” as committed in this article, but we can’t prevent it from being written in the first place. And we beg you all, when considering such bright ideas as dumping mounds of human remains in a museum garden not equipped for such things: just think a little. Then go read Jane Austen’s books again, and think some more.

Thanks to the many Alert Janeites who sent us this link, including Lisa, Kirsten, Cate, J. Ganis, and Maria L.

Alert Janeite Anne found another artist who has designed a cross-stitch chart inspired by Jane Austen’s work. Valentine Stitchery offers Elinor’s Sampler:

Elinor Dashwood was the sensible sister of the two, though she was so full of secrets that she was always fighting to suppress them. She did a fine job of keeping a placid exterior but I think in the end her emotions would have found their way into her needlework. The sampler is full of motifs that refer to her plight.

It’s unclear if the “chart pack” includes materials or just the stitching chart and there is no retail price listed. This designer only sells wholesale to needlework shops, so check with your local shop to see if they can order it for you if you are interested. Let us know if you find a shop that carries it.

ETA: Anne let us know of two online shops that offer the chart (looks like it’s just the chart, and you purchase your own materials). ABC Stitch Therapy has it for $14 and 1-2-3 Stitch has it at a slight discount.

Her Nibs The Editrix has been under the weather for a few days. I’ve been dosing her with white soup and negus and just a wee drop of Tullamore Dew in her tea and she seems to be coming around now. We think you’ll see a few new items here at AustenBlog very soon.

Cara King has done another Jane Austen/popular movie mashup at Risky Regencies: this time it’s Jane Austen’s Twilight.

Thing is, Jane Austen already parodied Twilight; it’s called Northanger Abbey.

The Ball at Netherfield, that is; the latest chart in the Stitching Parlor’s Pride and Prejudice series.

Thanks to Alert Janeite Julie P. for the link.

Russell Brand!

MTV: Is there any truth to the rumors that you might play Johnny Depp’s brother in the upcoming “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel?

Brand: I’ve seen some talk about that matter, but I think they’re still writing the script. Nonetheless, I am having a skull and crossbones tattooed on each of my nipples in anticipation of the plotline. I just hope it doesn’t affect my other work in Jane Austen adaptations.

Honestly, he’s perfect.

PBS is following up last season’s Complete Jane Austen with a big ol’ dose of Dickens (and Hardy, and Emily Brontë). More to the point for this blog, they also will be re-broadcasting Sense and Sensibility in two parts on February 1 and 8, 2009. Relive the magic!

Also, Laura Linney will be the host of Masterpiece Classics this season.

Welcome to Tuesday Open Thread, in which we highlight items that didn’t quite make the cut for a full blog post but we thought our Gentle Readers might find of interest.

Emma Thompson says there’s “no chance of a sequel” to Sense and Sensibility (1995). Someone seriously asked her that? And she refrained from striking him or her repeatedly?

Balance real life with online life the Jane Austen way, from Buzz, Balls & Hype (thanks to Alert Janeite Kelly for the link).

A diary that will be of interest to period history enthusiasts–though it seems to be a tiny bit after Jane Austen’s time.

As always, feel free to pimp your own Austen-related links or projects in the comments.

JASNA has scanned and digitized Persuasions No. 6 (1984), featuring papers from the 1984 Annual General Meeting in St. Louis. The AGM theme was Persuasion, so we’re very excited to read the papers. There are several other issues of Persuasions digitized and available to read online; do check out this great resource!

The Author’s Attic is a new website offering a lovely selection of Jane Austen-related jewelry (though we confess to rolling our eyes at the “Mrs. Darcy” bracelet–but then we’re one of those weirdo Tilney people). We really like the JA silhouette charm jewelry. Just in time for holiday shopping…

Alert Janeite Lisa sent us a link to a decoupage sheet featuring “a Pride and Prejudice couple” (and we can all guess which one). We’re not perfectly sure of the use for such an item, but it certainly is cute.

Several Alert Janeites (thanks to Cinthia, Sylvia M., Maria L., and Patty) have written to us with the news that the admin of the C19 forum, citing dependable sources, claims that Sandy Welch, who wrote the screenplays for the BBC’s magnificent adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South as well as the most recent adaptation of Jane Eyre, has written a new four-part adaptation of Emma for the BBC, to be broadcast in 2009.

If anyone from the BBC is reading, and this is more than a rumor, why don’t you make it three for three for your Main Male Spooks Hottie to move on to a Jane Austen adaptation, while sending Dorothy and many of our Gentle Readers (and, yeah, okay, the Editrix, too) into a genteel, ladylike tizzy? The campaign begins here: Richard Armitage must play Mr. Knightley.

Yes, we know, his shooting schedule for Spooks conflicts, but you’re the BBC, dagnabit. You can do anything.

We cannot state strongly enough how popular a casting decision this would be in Janeiteland. We’re talking Colin Firth in the wet shirt levels of hysteria. Do it. Just trust us for once. DO IT.

Who’s with us, Gentle Readers?

(post edited to update incomplete information)

We received several squeeing e-mails from the Janeite wing of Colbert Nation, telling us that Stephen Colbert had done a hilariously funny segment in which he mentioned Jane Austen. We can’t watch it till later today, so we’ve posted it below for everyone else to enjoy while we sit in the corner and sulk.

Thanks to Alert Janeites DeeDee, Kelly, and Julie for the info and link!

We’re overloaded with upcoming events of interest to Jane Austen fans. Check the list carefully–one could be in your home town! For Janeites in the U.S. and Canada, be sure to check out the JASNA Region nearest you, as many of the regions are planning events to celebrate Jane Austen’s Birthday in December, and some will be delighted to include Janeites who have not yet joined JASNA. Some events require advance registration, so do be sure to contact the regions in advance.

November 15-16, Lyme Regis: The second annual Jane Austen Weekend, featuring a lecture by Jane Austen’s relative Diana Shervington, a dance, a showing of The Jane Austen Book Club film, a tour of places that Jane Austen would have visited in Lyme Regis, and tea and tiffin at the Marine Theatre. Tickets are available by calling the Marine Theatre.

November 17, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia: Laura Carroll will give a free public lecture, “Warming the imagination with scenes of the past: Time-travel romances about Jane Austen,” in the dining hall of Duchesne College, University of Queensland, St. Lucia campus.

How can we really get into Jane Austen’s world? Do we fall through the looking-glass or stumble through the back of the wardrobe, or will a good old-fashioned concussion do the trick? Amongst the flood of new products recently marketed by the ever-resourceful Austen industry is a fascinating group of fictional works – novels and a television show - dealing with time-travelling contact between our world and Austen’s.

In these works, passionate Austen aficionados from the present are magically transported back to Austen’s England where they attempt to ‘pass’ as Regency types, notice what the novels exclude (dirt, bodies, servants, Americans) and encounter both the elusive authoress herself and Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, who, somehow and surprisingly, appears to be even more explosively sexy in person than he is in fiction. Although the ‘reality’ of Jane Austen’s world is never exactly how they had pictured it, the time-travellers must somehow reconcile their fervent attachments to the scenes of the past with their knowledge of themselves as essentially twenty-first century persons.

Bizarre and occasionally perverse as these works are, they offer a rich vein of insight into the bizarre and often perverse nature of Jane Austen’s immense and durable popularity among readers of all varieties. These time-travel fictions make full use of the imaginative possibilities afforded by fantasy and romance to explore passionate readerly experiences of the kind that ‘disciplined’ literary criticism has difficulty thinking about.

Refreshments will be served afterwards, and “friends of Austenblog enthusiastically welcomed.” Can’t beat an invitation like that!

December 6, 2008, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania: The Editrix (who when not keeping the Internet safe for tar-hearted spinster purist Janeites, is the author of The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World) and Friend of AustenBlog Diane Wilkes, author of The Tarot of Jane Austen, will be signing copies of their respective books at the Barnes & Noble on Chemical Road in Plymouth Meeting from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. We are informed that there will be a marching band in the store that day as well, and the Editrix could be persuaded to toss a flag for old times’ sake, so you really don’t want to miss it.

November 28-December 31, Odessa, Delaware: The Historic Odessa Foundation, as part of its Christmas celebrations in the restored Georgian houses of Odessa, will present “A Jane Austen Christmas: Vignettes of Customs and Traditions,” including “holiday recreations as inspired by the writings of Jane Austen.” On December 10 at 7 p.m., Margaret C. Sullivan (that’s right, your humble servant) will speak about Christmas traditions in Jane Austen’s time and sign copies of her book, The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World.

December 1-31, York, UK: Fairfax House presents Christmas With Jane Austen.

See how Jane Austen would have celebrated Christmas. This exhibtion uses evidence of family papers, diaries and household accounts.

An annual exhibition which complements our traditional display for the festive season, using the evidence of family papers, diaries, household accounts and the writings of Jane Austen. The rooms are bedecked with evergreens, and period set-piece displays bring the House to life in a very tangible way.

December 3, Brattleboro, Vermont: Bennington College Professor April Bernard will present “Powers of Persuasion” at Brooks Memorial Library at 7:00 p.m., “considering the lasting effect of Jane Austen’s “fairy tale for grown-ups,” Persuasion.”

December 5, 6, 12, and 13, Waltham, Massachusetts: Gore Place is offering a Jane Austen Holiday Tea and Tour at 1, 2:30, and 4 p.m.

Enjoy a traditional English tea served in the Great Hall of the 1806 Governor Gore mansion. The Gore mansion is one of the finest Federal period historic houses in New England. Traditional tea includes scones, savory tea sandwiches and assorted sweets.

After your tea, you’ll join a guide in period costume and hear tales of scandals in the Austen era as you view the beautiful rooms of this wonderful early 19th century home.

Admission for the tea and tour is $40 per person, $38 per for groups of 6 or more, $35 per for Gore Place members.

Now through January 4, 2009, Santa Fe, New Mexico: The New Mexico Museum of Art presents “Fashion in Film: Period Costume for the Screen,” featuring costumes from period films including Pride and Prejudice (1995), Sense and Sensibility (1995), and Emma (1996). We had the opportunity to see this exhibition when it was at Winterthur and if you have an opportunity to see it, do so!

P&P is THE play of the year! Everybody’s putting on a production, so we thought we would roll them into one post. Many are coming up this weekend or very soon. As always, if anyone attends any of these we would love to post your report on AustenBlog.

November 14-16 and 20-23, Norman, Oklahoma: Oklahoma University School of Drama and University Theater present the Jon Jory adaptation of P&P at Weitzenhoffer Theatre. Sunday shows are at 3 p.m., other days at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20, $17 for seniors, $12 for students with ID.

November 14-15 and 20-21, Silver Spring, Maryland: Montgomery Blair High School presents Pride and Prejudice at 7:30 each night. Tickets are $2 for students on opening night, Friday, November 14; all other performances are $4 for students and senior citizens and $7 for adults.

November 20-23, Farragut, Tennessee: Hardin Valley Academy presents Pride and Prejudice. Sunday show is at 2 p.m, all other nights at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students.

All of us who cringed at the carpetbagging reselling can’t-possibly-be-a-Janeite who STOLE! STOLE WE SAY! poor Anne Sharp’s copy of Emma and is reselling it for an outrageous, nay usurious sum–well, here’s your chance to get in on the ground floor, as they say. Alert Janeite Laurel Ann let us know that a first edition of Pride and Prejudice is up for auction on eBay, and the starting bid is nothing if not affordable. We doubt it will stay in three digits for long, though. However, if any serious collectors happen to read this blog, we would like to point out that in our admittedly limited experience (limited to sheer voyeurism, that is), we have noticed that this type of thing tends to go a lot cheaper at auction than at retail. Just saying.

Gentle Readers will remember that Jeanne Kiefer took a survey earlier this year to learn more about the demographics of Jane Austen fans, and presented her findings at the JASNA AGM in Chicago last month. A summary of the results are now available, and if you would like to read the full report, you can e-mail Jeanne (information is at the link). We were not much surprised at the diversity of our little world, and found it all quite interesting reading. Check it out!