Devoney Looser's Blog, page 6

Talking Books on NewsTalk (Ireland)

My crystal ball says Jane Austen will live on! So happy to share the news of my radio interview, with the lively, delightful Susan Cahill on her fabulous show "Talking Books," for NewsTalk (Ireland).

Newswhistle: Skate or Jane Austen?

Don't make me choose! Thanks to Laura LaVelle and Newswhistle.com for generously doing an interview with me this week, after having run a review of The Making of Jane Austen guessing that I might be fun at a party. I am always grateful for opportunities to test that theory! 

Romantic Circles Reviews Making Jane Austen

​ I'm grateful to Romantic Circles, whose reviewer found The Making of Jane Austen to be original, engaging, and "even gripping." She concludes, "Looser matches her thesis with her rhetoric: The Making of Jane Austen is both an essential, rigorously researched text for serious Austen scholars and an irresistibly lively reading experience." Wow! Thank you so much for your careful and appreciative assessment.

MJA for IHE Reader's Choice Award

Friends, you made it happen, "by a wide margin"! Your votes for my book led it to a win for the Inside Higher Ed  Reader's Choice Award for 2017. I'm so grateful for your support, of me and my book, The Making of Jane Austen, and of my fantastic publisher, Johns Hopkins University Press. The Press has had its books win this award (which is based entirely on reader votes/likes on social media) three years running! 

Highbrow Hip-Checker? Thanks Phoenix Magazine!

Thanks, Phoenix Magazine for featuring me, my book on Jane Austen, and my favorite sport and hobby, roller derby, in your November Issue "Spotlight" section. I love the shot that Madison Kirkman got, and I'm so grateful to Keridwen Cornelius for crafting such a fun interview. It's a great time to love both Austen and derby. . . . 

Thinking Aloud on BYU Radio

I got to do some on-air "Thinking Aloud" on Jane Austen with fabulous interviewer Marcus Smith. Thank you for the thoughtful questions and fun conversation on BYU Radio. You can listen here.

Amazing Decatur Book Festival

Austenland's Shannon Hale's bunny ears over Lemony Snicket's Daniel Handler in post-dancing Jane Austen silhouette impersonations produced my favorite photo from the Decatur Book Festival. But an image can't capture the energy of 600 authors and 80,000 attendees, sharing important ideas, beautiful writing, laughing, cheering, crying. Met so many amazing people and talked writing, books, and history. Thank you, DBF, for bringing me along to talk The Making of Jane Austen.

My July Adventures with Jane Austen@200, by the Numbers

I'm indulging in some intensely grateful if jet-lagged reflections on an amazing month of July. I got to honor Jane Austen@200 with 17,000 miles of travel, 4 lectures, 2 CNN appearances, 3 radio interviews, 1 video interview, 7 print essays, more than a few (mostly positive!) reviews of my new book, and countless kangaroos. All of the glorious gory details are on my book's webpage: http://www.makingjaneausten.com/janeausten200-tv-radio-print.html

New York Times Op-Ed

The 200th anniversary of Austen's death is marked this week, and I had the chance to write about why I think we ought to revisit the legend of her hiding her writing in the July 16th New York Times. My op-ed, "Jane Austen Wasn't Shy," appeared in the Sunday Review. As if that weren't good fortune enough, my book, The Making of Jane Austen, was reviewed by Jane Smiley in the Book Review that day, too. It's an honor to be a part of our conversations about her during this momentous week.  

The Economist on Austen at 200

Thanks to The Economist for devoting space to describing material from The Making of Jane Austen in the July 15th issue's essay, "Fame and Favourability: Jane Austen, 200 Years On."