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Online Program: Jane Austen, Imaginist

Jane Austen's 250th Birthday

Celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday by discovering why she, like her heroine Emma Woodhouse of Emma, qualifies as an "imaginist," a word she invented. Austen aspired to publication as a talented teenage writer and persisted in her ambitions despite years of disappointment. She took great pride in her earnings, though her fame during her lifetime was modest. This fresh, engaging account of Austen's authorship and legacy will include images of original manuscripts, artifacts, and artworks.

About the Speaker: Juliette Wells, Professor of Literary Studies at Goucher College, is the guest co-curator of A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250, which runs from June 6, 2025 through September 14, 2025 at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. The author of three histories of Austen's readers, most recently A New Jane Austen: How Americans Brought Us the World's Greatest Novelist, she edited Jane Austen's novels Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion for Penguin Classics Deluxe.

This program is online on Zoom. After registering, you receive a link to the Zoom webinar at least three hours before the program. If the event is full, or if you prefer, you can watch the live stream on YouTube.com/@SchaumLib. A recording of this program is sent out to patrons within 24 hours after the program and is available for 30 days.

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