For those of you who might not normally attend a JASNA AGM, we encourage you to consider attending in 2025 for the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s life and works. It promises to be a banner year at the AGM, with special speakers, workshops, and events. Here are the details we know so far:
Dates: October 10-12, 2025
Host City: Baltimore, MD
Theme: Austen at 250: “No check to my Genius from beginning to end”
The beautiful host hotel, the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, is situated on the water, in the Harbor East neighborhood of Baltimore:
Details
The AGM web site provides all of the pertinent information you need to start planning your trip:
“2025 will be a milestone year as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, with Baltimore welcoming JASNA back for its first AGM since 1980. We are planning a diverse and unique celebration of her life and literary genius, as well as an opportunity for attendees to connect with the rich history of Maryland and ‘Charm City.’ Attendees must find themselves agreeing that ‘a very strange [Janeite] it must be, who does not see charms in the immediate environs of [Baltimore], to make him wish to know it better.’
“Austen at 250 will be the culminating event focusing on Jane Austen and her work, which she once characterized as “little bit (two inches) of Ivory” but that has endured for centuries. Baltimore will be a salute to her legacy, timelessness, relevance, and enduring genius through an exploration of:
- Literary genius
- Published and unpublished works
- Surviving letters
- Innovation in writing technique
- Milestones of her life
- Education and daily life
- Family and friends
“Join your fellow Janeites friends at this once-in-a-lifetime celebration!”
Call for Papers
For those interested in applying to speak at the AGM during one of the breakout sessions, the Call for Papers has been posted. The deadline for submissions is November 30, 2024. Here is a snippet of the Call for Papers:
The AGM theme is: Austen at 250: “No check to my Genius from beginning to end”
“While commemorations of this anniversary will begin in 2024, the 2025 AGM will be the culminating event focusing on Jane Austen and her writing, which she once characterized as the ‘little bit (two inches wide) of ivory on which I work with so fine a brush,’ but which has endured for centuries. The 2024 Cleveland AGM leads off with her origin story and a focus on the literary, political, and cultural influences while the Baltimore conference will conclude with an examination of her life and her novels, juvenilia, and surviving letters.
“Our theme, drawn from Austen’s own words in a letter to her sister Cassandra, highlights her innovation, wit, realism, and irony. Proposals on all aspects of Jane Austen—her life, times, and writing—are welcome. We will focus primarily on the essence of Austen—the milestones of her life, interactions with family and friends, writing development, and the revelations in her letters. Specific areas to explore include, but are not limited to:
- Important events in Austen’s life
- Places or relationships
- Real life reimagined in her fiction
- Her writing process and her evolution as a writer
- The importance and expression of particular themes
- Publication goals and experiences
- Psychological aspects
- Change or consistency
- The nature of genius and evidence of it in Austen’s work
“This multifaceted and unique celebration will offer opportunities to explore Austen’s enduring genius. A successful proposal will convey the speaker’s ability to engage and educate conference audiences in a 30- to 40-minute presentation.”
You can read more about the guidelines and application process HERE.
Meet Me in Baltimore
Every AGM is unique, but we expect that the 2025 AGM will include an incredible lineup of events and speakers. Have you attended an AGM in the past? If so, which one(s)? What is your favorite part of an AGM?
We hope many of our JAW friends will attend next year’s AGM. Vic, Brenda, and Rachel have all attended in past years if you have any questions!
Jane Austen's World 