Please see below for the details of an exciting programme of events to celebrate 200 years since the death of Jane Austen. Contact: Alison O’Byrne (University of York).
AUSTEN AT 200
A series of events to commemorate Jane Austen’s writing and her legacy marking the 200th anniversary of her death. Presented by the University of York in partnership with City Screen, the South Bank Community Cinema, York Festival of Ideas, and Fairfax House.
Jane Austen by Cassandra Austen, pencil and watercolour, circa 1810. National Portrait Gallery, London.
Wednesday 24 May
Love and Friendship film screening with discussion, City Screen 6:15
Followed by Austen: Literature, Film …or History?
Join us for a screening of Whit Stillman’s 2016 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Lady Susan, followed by a lively discussion with Emma Major (English, York), Erica Sheen (English, York), and Catriona Kennedy (History, York). Tickets available through City Screen website.
Friday 26 May
Clueless film screening with introduction, South Bank Community Cinema at Clements Hall, 7.00
Amy Heckerling’s 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, introduced by adaptation specialist Suzanne Spiedel (Sheffield Hallam University), with Erica Sheen (York). Tickets at the door or contact the cinema.
Tuesday 30 May
Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies Annual Stephen Copley Lecture, Huntingdon Room, King’s Manor 5.00
Kathryn Sutherland (Oxford): Austen as Wartime Novelist
Austen’s popular and critical reception through much of the twentieth century was built on her seeming ignorance of public events, well described by Marilyn Butler as a ‘discreet’ approach to ideas. But just how discreet was she? Kathryn Sutherland presents an account of Austen’s commitment to recording events from the perspective of everyday reality, and argues that it is time to reclaim her as the first English novelist to explore the effect of contemporary war on the home front. This event is free; no tickets required.
Thursday 8 June, Festival of Ideas
British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Patron’s Lecture, Berrick Saul Building, University of York 6.00
John Mullan (UCL): What Matters in Jane Austen
Which important Jane Austen characters never speak? What do the characters call one another, and why? What are the right and wrong ways to propose marriage? Join John Mullan of University College London for this British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Patron’s Lecture as he asks and answers some very specific questions about what goes on in Austen’s novels, revealing the inner workings of their greatness. Sponsored by the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.
Tickets free from York Festival of Ideas (01904 324119).
Thursday 8 June, Festival of Ideas
Roundtable discussion, Berrick Saul Building, University of York 7:15-8:45
The Enduring Appeal of Jane Austen
With Bharat Tandon (UEA), Emma Major (York) and Deborah Yaffe (author of Among the Janeites), chaired by Alison O’Byrne (York)
What is Jane Austen’s legacy and why does her work continue to enjoy such popularity? Following John Mullan’s lecture, join our panel of experts and enthusiasts as they explore all things Austen: the enduring appeal of her novels, the fascination with the life of the author, the ways in which her novels have been adapted and reworked, and the many aspects of Austen fandom.
Tickets free from York Festival of Ideas (01904 324119).
Sunday 11 June
Illustrated talk and discussion, South Bank Community at Clements Hall, 7.00
Historians at work
Historian Hannah Greig (York) discusses and illustrates her work as historical consultant on films and tv including Death Comes to Pemberley, The Duchess and Poldark.
Tickets at the door or contact the cinema.
Wednesday 14 June
Sense and Sensibility film screening with discussion: City Screen 6:00
Austen: Film…or Literature?
Join us for a screening of Ang Lee’s 1995 film, nominated for seven Academy Awards (including Best Adapted Screenplay win for Emma Thompson), followed by a lively debate with experts from the Departments of Theatre, Film, and Television and English and Related Literature at York. Screenwriter Simon van der Borgh and JT Welsch put the case for Film; Mary Fairclough and Alison O’Byrne respond on behalf of Literature. Chaired by Michael McCluskey.
Tickets available from the City Screen website.
Friday 30 June
Fairfax House Public Lecture, Fairfax House 7:00*
Hilary Davidson: “Recreating Jane Austen’s Silk Pelisse-Coat”
What did Jane Austen wear? The only known garment associated with the beloved author is a brown silk pelisse-coat in the collection of Hampshire Council. Like a detective story, a project to recreate the pelisse allowed a rich investigation into the history, context and physical qualities of the coat, and revealed new information about the object – and the wearer.
Tickets available from Fairfax House.
Friday 14 July
Fairfax House Public Lecture, Fairfax House 7:00*
Emma Major (York): “Pictures of perfection…make me sick and wicked”: Jane Austen and Reading for Lies
As Austen wrote to her niece Fanny Knight, whose admirer had criticized the comportment of Austen’s heroines: ‘Pictures of Perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked’. In this lecture, Emma Major (York) looks at the ways in which Austen encourages us to be suspicious of perfection, and to become better readers of character. Indeed the case could be made that Austen’s fiction offers the reader a first-rate lesson in detective skills. As P.D. James points out, detective fiction ‘does not require a murder’ but ‘does require a mystery’ – and as we’ll see, Austen provides plenty of these, continuing to inspire crime fiction writers of today. This investigation of Austen’s lifelong fascination with letters shows how Austen uses them to teach her heroines to become better readers of flawed human nature.
Tickets available from Fairfax House.
Organizers: Alison O’Byrne (alison.obyrne@york.ac.uk) and Erica Sheen (erica.sheen@york.ac.uk)
* Organized by Fairfax House