Jane Austen Society of North America,

Southwest Region

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Half-Day Meeting

Los Angeles City College (LACC), 

855 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles 90029.

References to Jane Austen appear more than one thousand times in U.S. magazines and journals during the nineteenth century. The articles that discuss Austen provide an interesting story of a woman author who was deeply appreciated for her writing and for her biography--for the most part. Perhaps, not surprisingly, her greatest advocates and defenders were other prominent women. Critical standards and critical language were vastly different from the twenty-first century interpretations we enjoy today. Continuous attention, appreciation, and even controversy helped ensure that her reputation remained alive for the first hundred years of her afterlife among American readers. 

Mary Mintz holds two master's degrees, one in library science and one in English literature with a specialization in nineteenth century British literature. Her master's paper focused on one of the prominent Victorian poets. After a forty-year professional career, she retired as the Associate Director for Outreach at the American University Library in Washington, D.C., as well as the Humanities and Honors Librarian. Now an emerita member of the faculty, she enjoyed working closely with history and literature students to support their original research. She has served JASNA nationally as the chair of the Nominating Committee, as an at-large-member of the Board of Directors, and as vice-president/president-elect. On December 16, 2022, she became the president of JASNA. She says, however, that one of her most rewarding roles in JASNA so far has been serving as Regional Coordinator of the DC Metropolitan Region. She took JASNA's third tour of England in 1999 and became a life member in her first year of membership. Meeting JASNA members in their home Regions and at the Annual General Meeting is the part of being President that she enjoys the most. 

Registration Closes February 10, 2024

JASNA Southwest is Hosting an Emporium at the

February In-Person Meeting.

We invite you to be a part of our emporium at the February 24, 2024 meeting at Los Angeles City College (LACC) 3rd Floor Multi-Purpose Room. Local artisans can apply to sell their handmade goods such as jewelry, crocheted and knitted goods, ceramics, wall art, dolls, aprons, candles, lotions. Local authors are also encouraged to sell their own books and sign them at the event. Keep in mind that this is a family-friendly event, and all merchandise must be appropriate. Vendors must also purchase a ticket to attend the in-person meeting. 

For applications and more information email Melissa Buell

April 20 - 21, 2024 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Saturday & Sunday at USC

LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS AT USC

JASNA Southwest will celebrate our 12th year of participation at the Los Angeles

Times Festival of Books on the campus of USC, taking part in the largest book

festival in the nation. In 2023 over 3,300 attendees visited our large booth over the

two-day weekend. We will once again offer Austen-related books and merchandise

for sale.

Please consider volunteering at our booth — it’s a wonderful opportunity to

engage with other Austen enthusiasts. We seek help in setting up the booth,

greeting visitors, handing out information ‘postcards’ and selling books and

merchandise. Each shift is only 2 hours long. Please feel free to enjoy the festival before and after your shift. It’s always a tremendously rewarding experience to participate as a

volunteer. Every year some of our volunteers dress in Regency attire which sparks

interest, so volunteers please feel free to do so if you wish.

Concerned about what to talk about with festival attendees? We will be holding a ZOOM session prior to the event to provide talking points and to share ideas. Bring your ideas and stories.

Don’t own any Regency attire? We got you! We can provide resources to help you start your wardrobe.

Please contact jasnasw.fob@gmail.com for further information.

Full-Day In-Person Regional Meeting at

The Japanese American National Museum

100 N. Central Avenue

Los Angeles, Ca 90012

Registration Coming March 2024!

Speakers

Dr. Inger S. B. Brodey

”Making Sense of Sensibility”

Inger Brodey will discuss how this pan-European aesthetic movement shaped Austen’s writings throughout her life. This talk will focus on Love and Friendship, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion.

Dr. Peter Graham

”Byron: A Man of Mobility”

Peter Graham will examine Lord Byron’s view of sensibility in exploring human feelings and behavior. This talk will draw on Byron’s life, letters, and poems, especially his mock epic masterpiece Don Juan to tease out some of the intertwined traits of Byronic mobilité.

Karen Tei Yamashita

”Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro and Jane Austen’s Sensibility”

Karen Tei Yamashita will present a short story/essay written for this subject and occasion.

JASNA Southwest has planned a full-day in-person meeting on May 4, 2024 on the theme of The Culture of Sensibility in which we will return to the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. The event will begin at 9:00am with a buffet continental breakfast, includes buffet lunch and concludes at 3:30pm.

Presenter Biographies

Inger S. B. Brodey is an award-winning professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she teaches "Global Jane Austen" among other courses. She’s the founder and director of the annual Jane Austen Summer Program (JaneAustenSummer.org) and co-host of the Jane Austen and Co. web series (jaandco.org). As far as her JASNA involvement, she has served on the board of directors of JASNA, twice been a traveling lecturer, and twice been the JASNA North American Scholar lecturer at an AGM. In June 2024, she has a book coming out from Johns Hopkins University Press called Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness. You can read more about her at www.ingerbrodey.com

Peter Graham graduated from Davidson College and received his Master's and Doctorate from Duke University. His scholarly interests center on British literature and culture of the 19th-century with particular focus on Jane Austen, Lord Byron, and Charles Darwin.  Among the books he's written and edited are Jane Austen and Lyme Regis, Jane Austen & Charles Darwin: Naturalists and Novelists, Don Juan and Regency England, The Portable Darwin (with Duncan M. Porter), and Darwin's Sciences. He has been a JASNA Traveling Lecturer, has published essays in Persuasions and has presented at many AGMs and JASNA regional events. He is professor emeritus in the Department of English at Virginia Tech.

Karen Tei Yamashita is the author of eight books, including I Hotel, finalist for the National Book Award, Tropic of Orange, Letters to Memory, and most recently, Sansei and Sensibility. Recipient in 2021 of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation, she is professor emerita of literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her Zoom presentation on her book Sansei and Sensibility is available on the JASNA Southwest YouTube channel. Her latest book Dark Soil: Fictions and Mythographies will be published in May 2024 by Coffee House Press.

The 2024 AGM Preview is Available!

Click here to download the Preview Brochure, which provides an overview of the sessions and activities being planned for the AGM in Cleveland, Ohio. The Preview includes a first look at speakers, tours, and the schedule, and highlights what’s special about this AGM and the host city. Please review the options, talk to your prospective roommate if you have one, and get ready to reserve your hotel room.

The JASNA guest room block at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown

is Scheduled to open at 12 noon Eastern Time

on Wednesday, January, 31 2024.

Rooms for the official AGM nights of Thursday, October 17 through Sunday, October 20, as well as part of the JASNA block for Wednesday, October 16, will be available for reservation on January 31. Rooms for the Tuesday before and the Monday after the AGM, as well as part of the JASNA block for Wednesday, are not being released at this time, so that JASNA members who register for Wednesday and Monday tours may have priority in reserving those nights. Please see details on page 10 of the Preview or on the 2024 AGM Hotel Page. 

Reading group leaders, please send your next meeting updates to JASNA Southwest News. For any further reading group questions or assistance, or to suggest formation of a new group, please feel free to contact Nancy Gallagher.

Please send in a current image of your group to be featured in future newsletters.