Anne Harbers will present a talk on Jane Austen’s 3rd brother Edward. Adopted by the Knights, he inherited Chawton Estate where Jane spent her most productive writing years while living in Chawton Cottage.

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Painting: Edward Knight by unknown artist c. 1790

Join us in conversation with Lewis Treston, co-writer of the recent Queensland Theatre production of ‘Pride & Prejudice’. Click on the heading above for more details.

Harriet Jordan, Vice-President of JASA, will present a talk on ‘The Different Screen Presentations of Mr Darcy’. More details on this meeting will be provided closer to the date.

Professor Will Christie will guide us through a study afternoon on Jane Austen’s most controversial and divisive novel ‘Mansfield Park’.

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Image: Frances O’Connor as Fanny Price in ‘Mansfield Park’ (1999).

Judy Tenzing will be our guest speaker presenting her talk ‘Muslin: Fabric of Empires’.

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Image: The Gallery of Fashion Vol. 2. 1795, by Nikolaus von Heideloff, London.

On 17 August we revisit Austen’s original text with a ‘Pride and Prejudice’ study afternoon. On 17 August we revisit Austen’s original text with a ‘Pride and Prejudice’ study afternoon. The committee has organised a guest speaker, Steve Rohan-Jones, who will guide us through a pleasant afternoon in an interactive way writing letters to our acquaintances and partaking in parlour games to deepen our understanding of 'Pride and Prejudice'.

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Professor Will Christie will present ‘Portraits in Pride and Prejudice’.

More details will be provided closer to the event.

Photo: Portrait of Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, Pride and Prejudice, BBC (1995)

Brenda S. Cox will explore Mr Collins’s words, actions, and character, including his marriage proposal, comparing him to Austen’s other clergymen, satirical cartoons of the time, and Anglican and Evangelical ideals.

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Photo: Tom Hollander as Mr Collins, Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Our lecturer for ‘Teaching Jane Austen in the Classroom’ is Benjamin Taaffe from Sydney who has spent his working life of 43 years teaching English at Ascham School.

Ben has a special interest in certain recurring patterns in Austen’s novels and will discuss these patterns in Pride & Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion.

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Photo: Lucy Briers as Mary Bennet, Pride and Prejudice, BBC (1995)

Prof. Peter Sabor from Canada will present a talk on the ‘false friends’ in Jane Austen’s novels. More information will be provided closer to the date.

Photo: Carey Mulligan as Isabella Thorpe and Felicity Jones as Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey 2007

On Saturday 12 August 2023, Jan Merriman will be our guest speaker presenting her talk 'Finding Philadelphia’s Story'. The meeting will be at our usual venue, St Columb's, 23 Victoria Street, Clayfield at 1pm.

Jan's research will take us into the life and times of Jane Austen’s aunt, Philadelphia Hancock Merriman will give a talk on Philadelphia Hancock, Jane Austen's aunt. Please click on the heading above for more information.

Photo: Miniature of Philadelphia Hancock by John Smart. Currently located in Jane Austen’s House museum, Chawton, England.

On Saturday 27 May 2023, we will be returning to Jane Austen’s novels with a ‘Sense and Sensibility’ Study Afternoon. Please join us for a fun and informative afternoon to explore Austen’s first published novel and discuss the text, themes, characters, and its importance in the Austen canon.

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Please join us at 1pm Saturday 15 April 2023 where our guest speakers will be Julie Bray and Dale Murison from Growl Theatre, Brisbane.

In 2020 and 2021, Julie and Dale were involved in presenting the first two of a trilogy of plays - ‘Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley’ and ‘The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley’ by Lauren Gunderson Margot Melcon at Growl Theatre at Lutwyche. Later this year, the third in the trilogy ‘Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley’ will hit the Growl stage under Julie’s direction and Dale’s vocal coaching.

Julie and Dale will discuss their experience of bringing these plays to life and do some readings from both Pride and Prejudice and the plays.

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Photo: Still from ‘Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley’, December 2020

Imagine growing up in Chawton House, England and walking the corridors where Jane Austen walked, sitting at the same dining table and even eating from the same china. Despite the lack of her physical presence, Jane Austen was ever present in the four walls of the great family home, Chawton House. We are very happy to welcome Caroline Jane Knight, fifth great niece of Jane Austen who will share insights into her unique upbringing in Chawton House until the age of 18 years old and her motivations behind establishing the Jane Austen Literary Foundation.

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Please click on the meeting title above for information regarding this year’s Christmas Luncheon

Jewellery historian Adrian Dickens discusses jewels of the Regency era, as well as the three pieces (that are known of) relating to Jane Austen.

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Tim Bullamore joins us in person to present ‘Lady Susan is Dead’. Click on the heading above for more details.

Photo: Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan, Love and Friendship 2016

To celebrate our 20th Anniversary, Susannah Fullerton, President of JASA, will attend and present 'Saving Jane Austen's House', an illustrated talk about Jane Austen's beloved home. We also have a scavenger hunt as well as Jane Austen Mastermind quiz. It promises to be be a fun and lively meeting to mark our 20th Anniversary as a group. Click on the heading above for more details.

COVID Restrictions

Please note that mandatory vaccinations are no longer required to attend this meeting as the health direction has been revoked as at 14 April 2022. Masks are not mandatory however attendees may wear masks if preferred.

Dr Victoria Bladen will present ‘Pride and Prejudice on Screen’ exploring aspects of the afterlives of Austen on screen, considering some of the questions raised by the process of adaptation. We will consider three adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and think about the different ways they have approached the novel.

Note that COVID restrictions apply for this meeting, please click on the meeting heading above to view the full details.

Our Annual Christmas luncheon is back this year. Please click on the heading for more details.

Our guest speaker, Kate Ferrett from University of Queensland, has kindly agreed to present her talk originally scheduled for our July meeting that was unfortunately cancelled due to lockdown. Kate has had a long term interest in Regency Costume and presented a very informative talk to JASA Brisbane in 2015. We will be interested to hear Kate’s assessment of the costumes in the recent controversial adaptations of Emma and Sanditon.

Brisbane is now in Stage 3 restrictions. Click on the heading above for more information about the COVID restrictions for this meeting.

Photo credit: Emma, Focus Films, 2020.

Due to the Brisbane lockdown that commenced Tuesday 29 June, the committee has decided it is prudent to cancel the meeting planned for Saturday 3 July. Although the current lockdown is scheduled to end on Friday evening, we can't predict if it will extend and it will be too short notice to organise anything if the lockdown continues. Also, the safety of our members is paramount and we think it’s best to not hold a gathering at this time.

Our guest speaker, Kate Ferrett, has kindly agreed to reschedule her talk on Regency Costume so hopefully we will be able to see her presentation later this year.

Photo credit: Emma, Focus Films, 2020.

Dance historian, Dr Heather Clarke will explore the significance of the gentle art, and its importance in Jane Austen's life and writing.

Dr Victoria Bladen from the University of Queensland will give a presentation on ‘Persuasion on Screen’. Dr Bladen will be focussing on two screen adaptations of Persuasion to see how they have approached the challenges of bringing Jane Austen’s novel to the screen.

The current Queensland Government Health Direction requires numbers for this meeting to be capped at 50 attendees. This allocation is now full. Please contact info@jasabrisbane.org if you would like to be added to the waitlist.

Due to current circumstances with COVID-19, and restrictions on indoor gatherings, the JASA Brisbane committee have decided it is prudent to cancel our next meeting, scheduled for Saturday 16 May 2020. The safety and health of our members is paramount, so we believe this is the best course of action.

The Committee has been in touch with Caroline Jane Knight and together we are planning to reschedule her presentation for a later date.