Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Region
First Annual Jane Austen Festival
March 12, 2011
“More than fifteen minutes of fame!”
Author of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen’s popularity has never been stronger. On Saturday, March 12, 2011, Austen fans will now be able to attend Pittsburgh’s first day-long festival celebrating their favorite writer, culminating in a Regency Assembly Ball with live music.
“Pittsburgh-born artist Andy Warhol claimed that in the future everyone would have fifteen minutes of fame,” explains Mell Steven Cosnek, President of JASNA Pittsburgh. “But we feel that Austen has earned much more than just fifteen minutes of fame. Our festival, which will feature nationally-known speakers, vendors specializing in Regency clothing and accessories, dancing lessons, and a Regency fashion show, will celebrate Austen in many different ways.”
Ms. Cosnek adds: “We are thrilled to have as speakers Joan Klingel Ray, three-time past president of JASNA as well as author of Jane Austen for Dummies, and Gaelen Foley, New York Times best-selling author of fifteen adventure-filled historical romances set in the Regency period. Other nationally-known speakers include Linda Troost and Sayre Greenfield, Professors of English and editors of Jane Austen in Hollywood.”
The Pittsburgh Jane Austen Festival will take place on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. The festival, featuring multiple concurrent sessions of speakers, runs from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. A ball featuring English country dancing follows at the same location from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM. A nationally-known “Mistress of the Ceremonies,” Joanna Reiner from Philadelphia, will preside over the ball and teach all the dances. Organizers expect that many participants will attend in period costume.
As part of the festival, the Pittsburgh Region of JASNA, in conjunction with the English Department of Duquesne University, is running an undergraduate student paper-writing contest. “We want to encourage the next generation of Austen fans,” Ms. Cosnek adds.
The Pittsburgh chapter of JASNA was founded in the early 1980s and has enjoyed increasing membership and an active roster of programs. “We meet four to six times a year to watch movies based on Austen’s novels, discuss her works, and hold speaker programs. We also celebrate Austen’s birthday (December 16) every year with an elaborate tea and a birthday song.”
Pre-registration is required for the Pittsburgh Jane Austen Festival and Assembly Ball. For a festival brochure and registration form, visit http://www.janeaustenpgh.org/.—Allison Thompson