For the humanities group at The Dialog, 2025 will in large part be remembered because the yr of Jane Austen. Since January, we’ve got been tirelessly operating in opposition to December 16, which marked 250 years since her beginning. To rejoice, we explored the sector of Austen in a sequence of articles plus a six-part podcast – to decide the most productive of her paintings and get to grasp the elusive creator in the back of them.
The scholarship on Austen is extremely various. We’ve printed attention-grabbing items from professionals in all places the rustic – some exploring explicit issues in her books comparable to strolling as an act of feminine resistance, and respite as an component for love. Others delved into the historical past of her time and the way it’s represented in her paintings – exploring, as an example, Regency balls and recent range.
We’ve selected ten of our favorite articles and collated them right into a unfastened e-book, which you’ll be able to obtain right here.
This newsletter is a part of a sequence commemorating the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s beginning. In spite of having printed handiest six books, she is among the best-known authors in historical past. Those articles discover the legacy and lifetime of this unbelievable creator.
Fanatics of Jane Austen have very robust emotions referring to her paintings, and we additionally sought after to determine what our readers love maximum about her literary worlds. In that spirit, arts and tradition editor Anna Walker introduced the Jane Austen Battle Membership: a sequence of articles the place lecturers made the case for his or her favorite novel, heroine and main guy. Each and every contains the chance so that you can have your say.
Tell us which of her books you suppose is excellent through answering the ballot underneath.
The cherry at the best of the Austen sundae is our podcast, Jane Austen’s Paper Path. Over six episodes – one for every of her main novels – we take you on a adventure during the creator’s existence and instances with the assistance of one of the most UK’s best Austen professionals.
Alongside the best way, we revel in some buns in a scandal-filled tearoom in Bathtub to invite whether or not Austen was once a gossip; we attend a glittering Regency ball to determine whether or not she was once a romantic; and we name on her area in Hampshire to determine what she thought of being a creator. We additionally dive into the pages of every e book to peer what extra we will glean with the assistance of our Austen experts.
I’ve to admit one thing. Sooner than this yr, in case you had requested me if I preferred Jane Austen, I might have stated no. I loved the humour within the few books I had learn and liked the talent of her writing, however discovered the formulaic narrative arcs irritating. They ended too smartly, for my part.
Having were given to grasp her in detail this yr, you’ll be satisfied to listen to my opinion has modified. I now have a deep and honest reverence for her books – specifically Northanger Abbey, which is any such humorous and incisive takedown of snobby readers. Whilst I’m in a position to transport directly to 2026, I should admit I believe just a little unhappy to be leaving Omit Austen in the back of.
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