Wild About Jane Austen

Wild About Jane Austen

An energetic exploration of a writer of our times.

• Thursday 13 November
• 7 – 8:30pm
• Hull Central Library

We know Austen’s novels, but how well do we know their author? Presented for generations as a quiet spinster, this session introduces Jane Austen the ambitious writer, with insights into her relationship to the abolitionist movement and women’s suffrage. In celebration of Austen’s 250th anniversary, this evening brings together bold new interpretations and studies of her work in a questioning light, asking – who was Austen, what did she care about and what does her work mean to us in 2025?

Professor Devoney Looser’s new work Wild for Austen is praised by Lucy Worsley, (author of Jane Austen at Home) who says ‘I’m wild about Devoney Looser. No one else wears such deep Austen scholarship so lightly. A brilliant book!’ Celebrated cartoonist Kate Evans’ eighth work of graphic non-fiction is Patchwork: A Graphic Biography of Jane Austen. They will be in conversation with writer and Wollstonecraft expert Bee Rowlatt, who is one of the lead presenters on the BBC’s recent docuseries Austen: Rise of a Genius.

This energetic panel will also be joined by a star of the screen, bringing Austen’s own words to life – from both her exquisite novels and her salty letters – and will be introduced by the British Library’s Curator of Modern Archives and Manuscripts, Catherine Angerson.

Livestream from the British Library.