Devoney Looser's Blog, page 4

The Janeite Year in Review

I email out an author newsletter via TinyLetter, from time to time, sharing what I'm reading, writing, and publishing. I'd love to keep in touch that way, if you want to sign up. Or feel free to dip in at will. I'd love to hear from you, if there's something Austen-related or history of women-focused that you think I ought to know about, as we head into 2020. Happy New Year!

First known piece of Austen-inspired Fan Fiction Unearthed

I'm happy to share my latest essay, which unearths a hidden-in-plain-sight work of short fiction that must now go down as the first-known piece of Jane Austen-inspired fan fiction. It's in this week’s TLS, available here, with full text of the newly unearthed 1823 piece of fan fiction here. There's a conversation on the TLS podcast, if you'd rather get the audio version first. The December 13th issue has several great Austen and Regency-related reviews, including work by Paula Byrne and Gillian Dow.

I'm excited to share my piece because I think it's an Austen afterlife bombshell—and not only because it imagines her wearing a blue dress, lace cap, and pink ribbons (great details!) but because it also describes her as a night-owl writer in life. She even comes back as a ghostly figure to kiss would-be female authors with gilt-covered copies of Persuasion. Really!  It's  a fascinating read. It's likely by the writer Mary Russell Mitford, who knew people with firsthand access to Austen's looks and habits. To learn more about Mitford, check out Digital Mitford . To learn more about the periodical in which this work of short fiction was published, check out The Lady's Magazine Project.  I learned last week that Professor Jennie Batchelor has been writing about this 1823 piece, looking at Austen through the lens of The Lady's Magazine. We have her further thoughts on it, and her forthcoming book, to look forward to in 2020. I'm eager to hear what others make of it, too. Do you think it's by Mitford? Do you think it could be fiction based in fact?

Two Pieces of News

There are two updates I'm excited to share: the book I'm working on and the one that's just come out. My work on the biography of Jane and Anna Maria Porter, tentatively titled Sister Novelists, is moving forward, and the book has found a home. It was sold at auction to Bloomsbury, where my editor is the amazing Grace McNamee, a former undergraduate student of mine from the University of Missouri. Sister Novelists is on schedule for a fall 2021 release, with the brilliant Grace's help. Publishers Weekly announced the deal alongside Jimmy Kimmel's upcoming children's book. He's an author with a book deal. I'm an author with a book deal. So far we are equal. 

I haven't left Jane Austen behind, of course! This month, my new book from the University of Chicago Press dropped: The Daily Jane Austen: A Year of Quotes. I'd love to get this book in the right readers' hands—both those new to Austen and those who can't get enough of her, daily. If you want me to send you a signed book plate to put in your copy of the book, I'd welcome the chance to do it. Just drop me a line. Make sure to take your daily recommended dose!

Woo hoo! Celebrating a Victory

So glad to add my voice to those celebrating the USWNT win with this essay, "Oos-Oos-Oos-ah!" or "Joy in US Womens' Football," in the July 12th TLS. 

Jane West and Jane Austen: Emma SMackdown?

Think Jane Austen was in her "dark ages" in the 1820s, in the first decade after she died? It wasn't quite that stark. I've just published a piece in Essays in Romanticism describing how one novelist, Jane West, reimagined Austen's Emma in her novel Ringrove (1827). Did West admire Emma or did she disapprove? Some of the changes West made to Austen's plot suggest she wanted to write a different story about gender, class, and privilege, especially when it came to farmer-suitors. Is West's Emma Herbert a fictional response to Austen's Emma Woodhouse? I think so. Let me know what you think!

"Teaching Jane Austen to Sex Offenders"

My essay, "Teaching Jane Austen to Sex Offenders," appeared in Salon. It means a lot to me that this piece makes its way to readers, although I know not all will respond in the same way. The issues raised are important to me, and I think, to all of us #EducationForAll

First Impressions Podcast Review of The Making of Jane Austen

I am so totally bowled over by this generous First Impressions Podcast review of The Making of Jane Austen. Co-host Kristin and Maggie's serious engagement and sense of humor with this book mean so much. This is a case of the book finding its right, best readers. Thank you!

Penguin Deluxe Classics Sense and Sensibility published

It is not everyone who has my passion for opening a cardboard box full of books! Thanks for virtually celebrating with me the arrival of the just-released Penguin Classics Deluxe edition of Austen's Sense and Sensibility, with gorgeous cover art by Dadu Shin, and contextual essays on Inheritance, Sisters, Letter Writing, Gossip, Seduction, Illness, and Pop Culture by me. 

"Descending from Jane Austen"

My review/essay, "Pride and Precariousness," is in the Jan. 25th issue of the TLS, along with Reddit, London's private clubs, gender and gamers, and free speech. Sure, these things blend! . . This time my piece is behind a paywall. It could be the right time for you to to subscribe, if you don't, because that's a fabulous thing to do, if you're able to afford it. Other motivated readers without deep pockets could email me . . . 

In Next Week's TLS

I'm excited to report that I have a piece, "The Flourishing of 'Brand Austen,'" in next week's TLS (25 Jan 2019).