Information About 2012 Annual General Meeting is Available

JASNA's NY Region will host the 2012 Annual General Meeting in Brooklyn, NY.  The theme for the AGM to be held Oct. 5-7 2012 is "Sex, Money and Power in Jane Austen's Fiction."  Although all the breakout sessions have not been posted, plenary speakers include:  Anna Quindlen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author; Dr. Cornel West, Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University; Sandy Lerner, Chawton House library founder and Daniel James Cole, Fashion History Scholar.  More information about this exceptionally rich meeting may be found at the AGM website.

December JASNA Meeting Features Dean Carolyn Dever

Please join us for the next meeting of the Middle Tennessee JASNA Region on

December 11 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

We are honored to welcome as our speaker Carolyn Dever, Professor of English and Dean of the College of Arts and Science at Vanderbilt University. Dean Dever joined the English Department at Vanderbilt in 2000, and became Dean of the College in June 2008. Her academic specialties are Victorian literature and gender studies, and she recently served as the co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Anthony Trollope. She will speak to us on the topic of

"Jane Austen and the Art of Persuasion: Forming the Next Generation of Janeites"

The meeting will be hosted by Roberta Maguire at her home at 

217 Kensington Park in Abbottsford.

 

As always, please bring a treat for tea.

Carolyn Dever

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

Vanderbilt University

Tennesseans Enjoy Fort Worth AGM

Mildred Tilley and husband Richard Stewart take a break from Sense and Sensibility lectures to ride the bull at BIlly Bob's in the stockyard area of Ft. Worth! 

YEEHAW!

Jo Ann and Phil Staples eagerly await the beginning of the AGM's  Regency Ball. 
Their costumes were two of the finest worn by those who opted for a
"Regency look" at the banquet and ball.

Roberta Maguire (left) greets a friend whose pink hat and gown epitomize

"elegance."

All details of the 2012 AGM were special--including the Texas pecan pie and white chocolate
candy dessert that was served at Saturday night's banquet. 
As evident from the photo, the white chocolate candies were specially
made to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of

Sense and Sensibility.

JASNA's October Regency Dinner is a Culinary Sensation!

Nineteen Middle Tennessee JASNA members participated in a sumptuous Regency "feast" on the evening of October 22 at the home of local members, Phil and Jo Ann Staples.  All those who attended, made part of this elegant meal.  As participants arrived, they were treated to a powerpoint display of photos taken at JASNA's 2012 AGM projected on  the Staples' flat-screen television.  For those Middle Tennessee JASNA members who were unable to attend the AGM in Ft. Worth, these photos provided a glimpse into all the scholarship and fun and Texas hospitality which marked this large (more than  600  people) gathering.

Before dinner was served, diners gazed at elegant menus made by Caroline Davis, heard Regency-era music via Phil Staples sound system as well as heard an oral explanation by JoAnn about each course. Every dish was carefully adapted by Jo Ann from a recipe found in a Regency period cookbook. From "soup to nuts," this was an unforgettable meal for all!

(l to r)  Jo Anne Staples, Yvonne Boyer, Roberta

Maguire, Carmen Gherman, Mildred Tilley

and Sharon Hogge look forward to being served!

An Exciting Halloween Event for 19th Century History and Literature Lovers!

Join historically costumed reenactors as they recreate the funeral of famous Tennessean, businessman, surveyor, Revolutionary War veteran and State Senator, General Daniel Smith.  The recreation will take place in Smith's actual home, Rock Castle, located in Hendersonville, TN.  This event will be conducted by members of the Regency Society of Tennessee.  They will be wearing their black arm bandsand mourning clothes as they gather in the General's house for a recreation of an 1818 memorial service beginning at 1:00 pm.  The funeral will be followed that evening by scary, Halloween storytelling presented by the local storyteller group, "Explorastory."  The storytelling starts at 6 pm and will go until 9 pm with storytellers located at three different locations in progression, at the pavillion, in the cemetery, and the front of the house.

Make plans to attend this Halloween event that has a little something for old and young alike! 

For additional information, be sure to visit:

The Regency Society of Tennessee  

or

Historic Rock Castle  http://www.historicrockcastle.com/

Austen Biographer Catherine Reef Comes to Southern Festival of Books

The Southern Festival of Books proudly announces that Catherine Reef, author of Jane Austen: A Life Revealed, will be a featured speaker on Sunday, October 16 from 1:00-2:30  in Room 31 of the Legislative Plaza.  Ms. Reef will sign books afterward in the Signing Colonnade adjacent to War Memorial Auditorium. For more information, click on this link.

Stephanie Barron Writes Another Wonderful Jane Austen Mystery

As a mystery lover as well as a Janeite, I have enjoyed Stephanie Barron's mystery series featuring Jane Austen as an 18th century sleuth for a number of years.  Barron's premise that Austen would have been an exceptional "detective"  because of her uncanny attention to detail and deep understanding of human nature, plays out very well in the entire Jane Austen mystery series.  Moreover, Barron manages to weave into her novels direct quotations from Austen's novels which "melt" the line between Austen the narrator of Pride and Prejudice and the character of Jane Austen in Barron's series.

Jane and the Cantebury Tale is the latest addition to Barron's series; it definitely does not disappoint!  Epigrams from Chaucer's Cantebury Tales mark each chapter in this novel about a mysterious murder which Jane and her brother, Edward, join forces to solve.  Many details about court procedure and 19th century English laws add to the verisimilitude of Jane and the Cantebury Tale.  I highly recommend it.  ---Mildred Tilley (Middle TN JASNA member)

To learn more about Jane and the Cantebury Tale, click on this link.