Announcing Our JASNA New York Metropolitan Region Spring Meeting
ROMANCE AFTER AUSTEN
Dr. Mary Bly (a.k.a. Eloisa James) and Dr. Vanessa Riley, two best-selling authors who have published romance novels and other fiction set during the Regency, each discuss their historical research, their creative process, and Austen’s indelible influence on the romance genre.
Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Marymount Manhattan College
221 East 71st Street, New York City
Like most of our JASNA-NYM regional events, this meeting is open to members and non-members alike. We hope that you can join us!
Jane About Town
MAY 2025
Saturday, May 3, 2025 | 2:00 PM EDT
JASNA-NYM SPRING MEETING: ROMANCE AFTER AUSTEN
Please join us for our JASNA New York Metro spring meeting, featuring two bestselling authors of Regency romance: Mary Bly (who publishes as Eloisa James!) and Vanessa Riley (who will also be speaking at the JASNA AGM in Baltimore in October!). Please click here to join us on May 3rd.
(JASNA-NYM event, open to everyone.)
Saturday, May 3 to Sunday, May 4, 2025
REGENCY ROMANCE WEEKEND AT OLD WESTBURY GARDENS
Old Westbury Gardens, a magnificent Charles II-style mansion on Long Island, is holding a Regency festival in honor of Jane Austen’s 250th! Janeites are invited to celebrate the spring with a variety of indoor and outdoor amusements: tea, crafts, cocktails, dancing, lawn games, trivia, and more. Click here for details.
(Non-JASNA event, open to everyone.)
Monday, May 5, 2025 | 6:30 PM EDT
REBECCA ROMNEY ON THE WOMEN AUSTEN READ
The author of the recently-released Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector’s Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend offers a free lecture at The Grolier Club, 47 E. 60th Street in Manhattan. Her book examines British women novelists before Austen; local JASNA members who attended Romney’s book launch in February recommend her as a speaker. Click here for more.
(JASNA-NYM event, open to everyone.)
Thursday, May 8, 2025 | 7:00 PM EDT
GRAMERCY JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB: MISS AUSTEN
JASNA’s own Elise Pallay leads a discussion of Gill Hornby’s biographical novel Miss Austen, organized through Meetup.com’s Jane Austen Meetup NYC. Participants converse over a meal: the venue is a classic New York diner on Third Ave and 17th Street. Click here for more.
(Non-JASNA event, open to everyone.)
Friday, May 9, 2025 | 7:00 PM EDT
JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE: NEW YORK PREMIERE
JASNA-NYM and Sony Pictures Classics co-host this premiere screening of the French romantic comedy Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, which debuted last year at the Toronto Film Festival. This event includes a live, in-person Q&A with writer-director Laura Piani and star Camille Rutherford, moderated by JASNA’s own Prerna Ramachandra. Click here for more.
(JASNA-NYM event, open to everyone.)
Friday, May 9 to Saturday, May 10, 2025 | 7:00 PM
MISS LYDIA BENNET AT NEW PERSPECTIVES THEATRE COMPANY
We recently learned about this free staged reading of a new play called Miss Lydia Bennet, written by Meg Ledford and directed by Ghina Fawaz — both of whom are MFA candidates at Columbia University. They’ve invited Janeites from around the city to join them at New Perspectives Theatre Company (458 W. 37th Street) on May 9th or 10th. Click here for more.
(Non-JASNA event, open to everyone.)
Thursday, May 15, 2025 | 7:00 PM EDT
JASNA-NYM ONLINE DISCUSSION GROUP: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
On the third Thursday of every month, members gather via Zoom for a discussion of some aspect of Jane Austen’s work or her life and times. Topics and questions to ponder are sent out in advance. In 2025, we’re returning to the fundamentals: going through each of the six novels, one by one. Please email us here if you’d like to be added to our Discussion Group mailing list!
(JASNA-NYM event, open to all JASNA members.)
Friday, May 30 to Sunday, June 29, 2025
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE OFF-BROADWAY AT 59E59
An innovative new adaptation from across the pond that utilizes only three actors. Guildford Shakespeare Company’s production of Pride and Prejudice is directed by Abigail Pickard Price; the script was co-written by Price along with Sarah Gobran and Matt Pinches. It’s coming to New York for the Brits Off-Broadway Festival at 59E59 — the same festival that brought us Adrian Lukis in Being Mr. Wickham two summers ago. Click here for tickets.
(Non-JASNA event, open to everyone.)
JUNE 2025
Sunday, June 1, 2025 | 2:00 PM
JASNA OUTING TO PRIDE AND PREJUDICE OFF-BROADWAY
Join your fellow Janeites at the June 1st matinee of Pride and Prejudice at 59E59, for which we’ve arranged a special post-show Q&A. Click here to purchase your ticket directly from the theatre.
(JASNA-NYM event, open to everyone.)
Friday, June 6 to Sunday, September 14, 2025
A LIVELY MIND: SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL EXHIBITION AT THE MORGAN
JASNA’s own Dr. Juliette Wells (who addressed our New York Metropolitan Region in the fall of 2024) serves as guest co-curator for A Lively Mind: a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of Jane Austen’s genius at The Morgan Library and Museum, featuring the largest collections of Austen family treasures ever displayed on this side of the Atlantic. Click here for more.
(Non-JASNA event, open to everyone.)
Sunday, June 8, 2025
JASNA OUTING TO “A LIVELY MIND” AT THE MORGAN
Please save the date! We’re in the process of arranging a JASNA tour of the Morgan Austen exhibition, led by guest co-curator Dr. Juliette Wells.
(JASNA-NYM event, open to all JASNA members.)
Thursday, June 12, 2025
MORGAN AFTER HOURS: SUMMER SALON WITH JANE AUSTEN
The Morgan Library and Museum offers an evening of live music, crafting, drinks, art, and literature. Austen-inspired activities include English country dance (led by our friends at CDNY!), silhouette-making, and a garden promenade. Click here for more.
(Non-JASNA event, open to everyone.)
Saturday, June 14, 2025 | 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM
HANDS-ON JANE AUSTEN: SPRING FAMILY FAIR AT THE MORGAN
JASNA’s own Lena Yasutake offers of day of creative, hands-on activities in the Education Center at The Morgan Library and Museum. Lena will use her collection of antique and reproduction tools, costumes, and accessories to share experiences from Regency-era England with learners of all ages. Click here for more.
(Non-JASNA event, open to everyone.)
Monday, June 16, 2025 | 7:00 PM
STAGED READING OF CHARLOTTE COLLINS, A NEW PLAY
Join us for a staged reading of Charlotte Collins, a new romantic comedy that imagines Charlotte Lucas’s life after the timeline of Pride and Prejudice. The reading will be held at The New York Society Library on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Playwright Grace Abele is a member of JASNA New York Metro! Click here for more.
(Non-JASNA event, open to everyone.)
Thursday, June 19, 2025 | 7:00 PM EDT
JASNA-NYM ONLINE DISCUSSION GROUP: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
On the third Thursday of every month, members gather via Zoom for a discussion of some aspect of Jane Austen’s work or her life and times. Topics and questions to ponder are sent out in advance. In 2025, we’re returning to the fundamentals: going through each of the six novels, one by one. Please email us here if you’d like to be added to our Discussion Group mailing list!
(JASNA-NYM event, open to all JASNA members.)
Local Janeites, please save the following additional dates for yet-to-be-announced JASNA-NYM events: Saturday, August 9; Saturday, October 25; Saturday, December 13; and Tuesday, December 16, 2025.
Do you have an Austen event coming up? Drop us a line and let us know! In these listings, we tend to prioritize in-person gatherings in and near New York City, as well as online events that involve our local JASNA members. (Click here to become a member of JASNA New York Metro.)
Except in the case of official JASNA meetings, no listing on this page should be construed an endorsement or sponsorship by JASNA.
“It is such a happiness when good people get together — and they always do.”
EMMA
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