My first weekend with a few hundred Janeites

Yours truly is off today to attend this year's Jane Austen Society of North America Annual General Meeting, a.k.a. JASNA AGM. It is a weekend where scores of JASNA members gather in one city to hear lots of speakers, attend special presentations, dance at a ball and spend time with all those people who love Jane Austen as much as they do.

This year the AGM is in Louisville, Kentucky and is being hosted by the Greater Louisville Region JASNA group. I wouldn't normally be able to go, but it so happened that this year the Greater Louisville group offered a scholarship to attend. It includes the registration fee and accommodation in the Galt House Hotel where the AGM is being held. The scholarship was offered in honor of Jackie Johnson, who was a dedicated member of the Louisville group for many years and loved Jane Austen, and could be won by entering their essay contest. So after writing and rewriting for at least a week, and waiting to hear who the recipient of the scholarship would be, to my great delight and shock it was me!

Which means that here I am, ready to leave at 11:00 tonight to get to Louisville in the morning for my very first JASNA AGM!

The theme this year is Living in Jane Austen's World, so the speakers' topics include things like the kitchen, farming, aging, embroidery, holidays, economics, theater, gardening, marriage, monarchy, and dozens of others. We have three plenary speakers, including Professor Amanda Vickery who has hosted and researched such documentaries as Pride and Prejudice: Having a Ball and At Home with the Georgians. There are special events such as "Dressing Mr. Darcy" and "Undressing the Historical Lady," a banquet, a ball and even a Regency church service on Sunday morning. There are also dancing, breastknot and tea-making workshops.

The Galt House Hotel

If you're curious, this was the essay question...

"Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park are considered to be "Austen's Problem Novels."  These novels do not generally end up at the top of most Janeite's lists of favorites, and are the works in the Austen canon that literary critics have the most difficulty with as well.  Examine Austen's social commentary behind each story and discuss whether or not she came to any conclusions on the social issues and morals prevalent in her day.  If so, are those same issues relevant today?"

 I decided that this was my opportunity to spend all day every day in Regency clothing, so I of course had to add a few new pieces to my wardrobe. I shall post pictures when I return!