The Latest from Devoney (2 August 2025)

Dear Jane-Friends:

Can you believe how much Austen is in the news now? I can’t get enough of the adaptations in production, the casting announcements, and the behind-the-scenes gossip, including the ridiculous ways they are stirring the pot. (I’m admittedly taking an Elizabeth Bennet-style delight in these stories.) There have been so many little surprises along the way so far, too, including this fantastic shrine in an optician’s shop window in Winchester. I do hope such things aren’t quite at their crescendo yet, however.

There are still 136 days until Austen’s sestercentennial, but it’s just one month until the launch of my new book, Wild for Austen , out in North America from St. Martin’s Press on 2 Sept. This past month alone I’ve had the pleasure of talking Austen with reporters from National Geographic, Empire Magazine, and AARP The Magazine, and that’s just the stuff I’m allowed to tell you about. (Yes, that’s a tease. Stay tuned.)

WILD FOR AUSTEN BOOK TOUR

I do hope I’ll get to see you and celebrate together during this milestone 250th year for the great—our greatest!—novelist in English. It promises to be the ride of a lifetime for Janeties and Austen scholars who have the privilege of being part of the celebrations and conversations.

My upcoming book tour will have me living out of a suitcase. It will take me to bookshops, libraries, and Austen festivals in ten cities in North America (Phoenix, Dallas, Tulsa, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York City, and Toronto), as well as to Australia, Scotland, and England. Full information is at the end of this newsletter.

RUBBING ELBOWS WITH AUSTEN STUDIES & POP CULTURE SUPERSTARS

This past July, I had some amazing work adventures in the UK. I visited eleven different libraries and archives, gathering unpublished information for my next book, The Stunning Gunnings. A highlight was researching in a private archive at a Scottish castle. Why haven’t all of my previous books required me to research at Scottish castles? Fail!

I reserved time, too, for all things Austen. I visited 8 College Street, the Winchester house where she died, now opened for the first time to the public. (Yes, I cried.) That same marvelous day I took the bus to Chawton, got to see the incredible Sisters of the Pen exhibit at Chawton House, then met screenwriter extraordinaire Andrew Davies! I heard him talk about his adaptations at a private event held at the Jane Austen House Museum. (Thanks to Prof. Justin Smith of De Monfort University, where Davies’s papers are held, for that incredible opportunity.)

A short film of Davies’s remarks that evening is now in the works. That’s why actors from the BBC P&P 1995 were in the audience, too. After the filming, I snapped this lovely photo of Davies with Susannah Harker and Crispin Bonham-Carter. They were just as glowing and lovely as this shot suggests. It was challenging for me not to do fan-girling-type silliness, but I think I appropriately restrained myself.

Hearing that night about the work and career of the BBC P&P 1995’s brilliant script editor Susie Conklin (who was in conversation with Davies and Smith) was another incredible highlight. I’m now planning to watch every series she’s been a part of and will avidly follow all she does next.

GLOBAL JANE AUSTEN CONFERENCE IN SOUTHAMPTON

Listen, I could show you the photos of my research trip to the UK *all the day long,* but I don’t want to be one of those people. So I’ll just share one more—from the Global Jane Austen Conference at the University of Southampton, organized by Profs. Gillian Dow and Katie Halsey. It featured 170 presenters from 20 countries. The temperatures were high, but the level of scholarship was higher!

Three conferees had been part of the 1975 Austen bicentenary celebrations—Isobel Grundy, Juliet McMaster, and Janet Todd. Here’s a photo of two of those powerhouses—McMaster (left) and Todd (right). My inspirations and heroines! Juliet was there promoting the fab work of The Juvenilia Press, and Jan signed copies of her remarkable critical-memoir, Living with Jane Austen.

I loved hearing their stories, especially Jan’s about the 1975 Austen celebrations in Steventon. She shared a hazy memory of its Regency sporting re-enactments that may have involved trying to catch a greased pig. Even she wonders if it really happened. Anyone out there able to confirm? I left the conference so grateful for the past 50 transformative years of Austen studies, while looking forward to what’s yet to come.

BACK TO WILD FOR AUSTEN: (YES, IT’S GOING TO BE PRETTY MUCH A BROKEN RECORD FROM ME.)

In Edinburgh and London, I visited bookstores with Mariana Mouzinho, a super-talented young publishing professional from Manchester University Press, my UK publisher. Mariana and I walked each city from bookstore to bookstore for five wonderful hours. Along the way, I learned a lot from her about “femgore.” (I did not know!) We also shared Austen stories, reading recommendations, and publishing industry shop talk. We got in our steps, as she dropped off advance copies of my book, introduced me, and we tag-team-told booksellers about Wild for Austen. I’m so grateful for the excitement many of them expressed.

Are you not so much into reading print these days? Then you’ll want to know that the audiobook of Wild for Austen has been narrated by the award-winning Marisa Calin. The audiobook also launches in North America on 2 Sept. and is now available for pre-order. Calin’s enchanting voice has just the perfect amount of humor and sass for this book—or so I hope you’ll agree.

WHAT’S NEXT? LET’S FIND OUT! AND PLS TELL FRIENDS.

I don’t know about you, but I’m finding reading the news right now totally harrowing. I’m not averting my eyes, of course, but I’m also trying to find daily ways to channel hope, joy, and connection. That’s one reason why I’m embracing these Austen 250th birthday celebrations as not only gloriously social on a personal level but as potentially positively sustaining for our shared culture—whether that’s popular, literary, or simply literate. It’s an honor and privilege to be a part of them.

And the more the merrier, right? I’d be so grateful if you shared this newsletter with a friend who might want to join us for the fun. In the meantime, if you plan to buy or listen to Wild for Austen at any future point, then please consider pre-ordering it now? Should that not be in your budget at the moment, then maybe you’d ask your favorite local library to consider buying the book. (Most have online forms for purchase suggestions by patrons.)

You may be asking, “Why is pre-ordering books so darn important to authors? Why are they so relentless in prodding readers to do it?” It’s because pre-orders lead publishers to make decisions that may determine the fate of a book. Pre-orders also have an impact on a title’s future discoverability and signal whether further investments in publicity are made.

I’d love to see Wild for Austen end up in as many hands (and ears) as possible, not only because I believe in the new non-fiction stories I’ve researched and told in its pages, but because I think this book may help further transform Austen’s rightful reputation, moving the dial from milder to wilder during her milestone year. As ever, I very much look forward to hearing from you about the ways you’re coping, celebrating, and working to move the dial.

Your largely—or certainly more than occasionally—humble, obedient servant,

Devoney

P. S. The Wild for Austen Book Tour, 2025 (with updates to come)

2 Sept. 2025: Phoenix: Changing Hands Phoenix Bookstore (6:30-8:30 p.m.)
4 Sept. 2025: Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art / Arts & Letters Live Series
10 Sept. 2025: Tulsa: Magic City Books (7 p.m.)
16 Sept. 2025: Pittsburgh: Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall (6:30-8 p.m.)
20 Sept. 2025: Atlanta: Jane Austen Conference at Rose Library, Emory University (9 a.m.-4 p.m. Ticketed registration required.)
24 Sept. 2025: Minneapolis: Magers and Quinn Bookstore (7 p.m.)
11 Oct. 2025: Baltimore: JASNA AGM (Ticketed registration required.)
23 Oct. 2025: Tempe and Online: ASU Book Group (12 p.m.-1 p.m.)
25 Oct. 2025: Canberra: Jane Austen Panel at Canberra Writers Festival
1-2 Nov. 2025: Canberra: Jane Austen Society of Australia AGM (Ticketed registration)
6 Nov. 2025: Edinburgh Bookshop (TBA)
10 Nov. 2025: Durham Bookshop (TBA)
12 Nov. 2025: London Waterstone’s Tottenham Court Rd, “A Regency Evening,” 7 p.m.
13 Nov. 2025: London: British Library (TBA)
14 Nov. 2025: Cambridge (TBA)
2 Dec. 2025: San Marino, CA: Huntington Library (TBA)
6 Dec. 2025: New York City: JASNA NY Day Conference (TBA)
9 Dec. 2025: Toronto: Toronto Public Library (TBA)

P. P. S. TBR

More in the next edition of this newsletter on my fabulous current TBR pile!

P. P. P. S.: Let’s Stay Connected

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