There is a lot going on out there that I think may be of interest to my readers:
Austen Authors: Author and illustrator Jane Odiwe is the spotlight today. In addition to her excellent post, in which she speaks about Austen and her books, Jane has shared several illustrations with her readers. Also, in celebration of MARILYN BRANT'S second novel, Friday Mornings at Nine, her publisher, Kensington Books, is giving away a free ebook download of her Austenesque debut novel, According to Jane. Check Austen Authors for details.
Via Jane Austen Companion on Facebook: An article from the Washington Post: Jane Austen Gets Digital: Manuscripts will be scanned online: The first British lady of letters enters the digital age as the Web site "Jane Austen's Fiction Manuscripts" scans all of Jane Austen's handwritten fictional work online. The project will be a three-year undertaking by University of Oxford and King's College London.
The Huffington Post - Lev Raphael: "Who Says Jane Austen Was a Popular Novelist?" An excerpt: Back then, novels were less widely read than poetry by celebrity authors like Sir Walter Scott and Byron. The day it was published in 1814, Byron's The Corsair sold 10,000 copies. Also published in 1814, Emma took six months to sell out its printing of 1250 copies.
Jane Austen's World: "You have a chance of winning one of three copies of Dancing with Mr. Darcy: Stories Inspired by Jane Austen and Chawton House Library, and compiled by Sarah Waters. The book will be available in your local bookstore on October 19th!"
Meredith at Austenesque Reviews has Part 4 of her compilation of Austen re-imaginings that were released in 2009, a vintage year, I might add. (My own, Searching for Pemberley, was published in 2009.) Check it out and see if you have missed any of the titles listed.
Last, but not least, Laurel Ann at Austenprose will be celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Birth with a Blog Tour on September 29, 2010. Best known for her detailed and sensitive portrayals of English social strata, her novels are cherished by literature lovers and social historians for their honest depiction of the life of rich and poor from the first half of the nineteenth century. Five of her books have also been brought vividly to the screen in television mini-series adaptations: The Brontes of Haworth (1973), North and South (1975 & 2004), Wives and Daughters (1999), Cranford (2007) and Return to Cranford (2009).
Mary, thanks so much for the wonderful post! I can't wait to start reading those articles and I'll surely check out the free download of the debut novel you mentioned. I was just thinking about Elizabeth Gaskell today, as I was arranging my English classics on my bookshelf and I noticed "North and South" has yet to be read. I loved the BBC adaptation from 2004, so it shouldn't be too hard loving the novel as well, especially since it's almost like "Pride and Prejudice" 30 years later, going industrial.:)
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