JASNA Pittsburgh

JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY of NORTH AMERICA
Pittsburgh Region

View of the City of Pittsburgh in 1817, from a sketch drawn by Mrs. E.C. Gibson on her wedding tour


About Us

The Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) and its regional groups are dedicated to the appreciation of Jane Austen: her writing, her life, and her legacy.The Pittsburgh region meets six or so times a year in various venues around the city as well as on Zoom. Our events range from formal teas and luncheons with speakers to informal discussions of a moderated topic. We go to movie and play adaptations of her works, have dances, balls, and Regency craft and sewing sessions.Pittsburgh has been an active group in JASNA since the early 1980s. We love Jane Austen!We welcome all those who are interested in Jane Austen, from movie lovers and costume enthusiasts to serious scholars. Come join the fun!Pittsburgh Region team
Regional Coordinator: Allison Thompson
Treasurer: Laura Livingston
Website Design and Manager: Christina Papp




Antique drawing of two women dressed in 18th-century clothing, conversing and laughing

“Both gained considerable amusement,” Mrs. Jennings and Elinor in Sense and Sensibility, illustration by Hugh Thomson, 1896



Silhouette of Jane Austen and text that reads Austen at 250

Celebrating Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy

In 2025 we are marking the 250th birthday of Jane Austen—a literary icon who continues to entertain, delight, and inspire generations of readers.Join us as we celebrate her timeless works, remarkable life, and enduring legacy throughout the year with special events, activities, online tributes, and more.


JASNA National

JASNA’s national website has numerous opportunities for learning, expressing and connecting through a love of Jane Austen.


Are you a young filmmaker?
Amateur filmmakers up to the age of 30 are invited to enter an original short film of 5 minutes or less in JASNA’s annual contest—a creative competition designed to encourage the study, interpretation, and appreciation of Jane Austen among new generations.

Are you interested in Jane Austen films?
Jane Austen’s novels have been adapted for large and small screens since 1938—from faithful period recreations to reinterpretations and modernizations.


Are you a K–12 educator?
JASNA’s Book Box Program is designed to help schools, libraries, and community groups introduce Austen to new generations and diverse readers. Apply for free books tailored to your students’ needs for use in a program of your own design.



About Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775–1817) is one of England’s foremost novelists. She began writing at a very young age with humorous works intended to entertain family members. Her major works are six novels, four of which were published during her lifetime. The remaining two were published shortly after her death. Other works were published much later.


Major Works

Sense and Sensibility
Published in 1811
Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, are forced to leave their home after Mr. Dashwood dies. When Marianne tumbles down a hill, charming and elegant Willoughby comes to her rescue.
Pride and Prejudice
1813
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet need husbands for their five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. “Netherfield Park is let at last” and they meet eligible bachelors, Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham.
Mansfield Park
1814
Ten-year-old Fanny Price goes to live with her wealthy uncle and aunt, Sir Thomas and Aunt Bertram, at their large country estate. At a disadvantage to her lively cousins, Fanny strives to do right while she carries a secret love in her heart.
Emma
1815
“Handsome, clever, and rich,” Emma Woodhouse is matchmaker for friends while determined to remain single to look after her elderly father. Family friend, Mr. Knightley, tries to keep her from causing trouble. Then, she falls in love.
Persuasion
Posthumously in 1817
27-year-old Anne Elliot wonders if she will have a second chance at happiness when her true love, Captain Wentworth, returns from years at sea.
Northanger Abbey
Posthumously in 1817
Young Catherine Morland, with her love of Gothic novels and very active imagination, looks for evidence of foul play in the country home of her handsome friend, Henry Tilney.

Antique watercolor of back view of Jane Austen seated outdoors gazing into distance

Circa 1805 watercolor of Jane Austen by her sister, Cassandra


Interested in learning more about Jane Austen's life, her works and the movies made from them, and more?Take a look at the JASNA national website for a biography and further reading on Jane Austen's works, her life, modern adaptations, plus links to the Austen Chat podcasts.



Upcoming Pittsburgh Region Events

You are welcome to attend most of our events before you become a member of JASNA. To join our mailing list and hear about upcoming events via email, or to ask questions about our events, fill out the form on the Contact page.


Antique print of couples doing country dancing

Extraordinarily Ordinary: Compass Inn During the Regency Era
Saturday, July 19, 2025, 11:00 to 4:00 PM
Sunday, July 20, 2025, 11:00 to 4:00 PM
Compass Inn Museum
1386 Route 30 East, Laughlintown, PA 15655

On Saturday, JASNA Pittsburgh members Sally, Steve, and Laura will be at the Compass Inn Museum near Ligonier PA for their Living History days to model and discuss fashion circa 1814 as well as the Lewis & Clark expedition.On Sunday, JASNA Pittsburgh members Dewi, Marcia, and Allison will demonstrate and discuss bobbin (pillow) lace-making and social dance of the period.


Celebrate Jane Austen, Part I: Pride and Prejudice and Popularity
Thursday, August 7, 2025, 7:00 to 8:30 PM
Cooper-Siegel Community Library
403 Fox Chapel Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15238

What makes Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813, so beloved? How has it inspired so many movies and spin-off novels? With retellings set in India, Utah, a Muslim community in Toronto, a high school debate team, a Chinese-American family in New York, or a world with dragons, there is a Pride and Prejudice for everyone. Come explore the world of the fandom with JASNA Pittsburgh Regional Coordinator Allison Thompson and learn to read Austen in a new light.This program will be repeated on December 6, 2025 at Cranberry Library. See event listing below.


Celebrate Jane Austen, Part II: Jane Austen’s Life, Times, and Legacy
Thursday, August 14, 2025, 7:00 to 8:30 PM
Cooper-Siegel Community Library
403 Fox Chapel Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Jane Austen (1775-1817) wrote about two or three families in a small village, but she was connected to key events of her time: the Napoleonic Wars, the abolition of the slave trade, and more. Come explore Austen’s world with JASNA Pittsburgh Regional Coordinator Allison Thompson through an examination of her life, her family, and her works.


Summer Picnic Potluck Tea and Readings
Saturday, August 16, 2025, 3:00 to 5:00 PM
Maple Grove Shelter of Highland Park, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Join us in the Shrubbery at Maple Grove for a potluck tea and readings. Please bring a light sweet or savory to share. JASNA Pittsburgh will provide the rest.Enter Highland Park from North Highland Avenue and take Reservoir Drive anti-clockwise almost all the way around — the Shelter is adjacent to the big playground. Access is ADA conformable and the event will occur rain or shine unless it is a real monsoon!Questions? Send us a message here:


Wild About Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane
Tuesday, September 16, 2025, 7:00 to 8:30 PM
Andrew Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie, PA
(about 12 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh)
300 Beechwood Avenue, Carnegie, PA 15106

Professor Devoney Looser is on a tour showcasing her just-released book, Wild About Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane. Devoney is a fabulous Austen scholar and an entertaining speaker who played roller derby under the name Stone Cold Jane Austen. Don't miss this event!


Pride and Prejudice and Popularity
Saturday, December 6, 2025, time TBA
Cranberry Public Library
2525 Rochester Rd., Suite 300
Cranberry Township, PA 16066-6499

What makes Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813, so beloved? How has it inspired so many movies and spin-off novels? With retellings set in India, Utah, a Muslim community in Toronto, a high school debate team, a Chinese-American family in New York, or a world with dragons, there is a Pride and Prejudice for everyone. Come explore the world of the fandom with JASNA Pittsburgh Regional Coordinator Allison Thompson and learn to read Austen in a new light.This program is a repeat of the presentation on August 7, 2025 at Cooper-Siegel Community Library. See event listing above.

Upcoming National Events


Clueless 30th Anniversary Watch Party
Saturday July 19, 2025, 3:00 PM EDT
Zoom
JASNA Members Only
Clueless appeared on-screen 30 years ago on July 19, 1995, and, in its honor, JASNA is screening it on Zoom including a Q&A with director and writer Amy Heckerling. This event is free and open to all JASNA members, but you do need to register. Check your personal email from JASNA national for the Watch Party Registration information. If you did not receive the June Update, you have — horrid thought! — let your membership lapse. Check your membership status here:


JASNA Annual General Meeting
Austen at 250: “No check to my genius from beginning to end”

October 10 to 12, 2025
Baltimore, Maryland
Open to JASNA members. Registration is open now.



Past Events


Miss Austen Meetup
Saturday, May 24, 2025, 12 Noon
Bakery Square
6425 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
We had an in-person meet-up at noon to lunch and discuss the recent Masterpiece television series of Gill Hornby’s Miss Austen on Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend.


Review of 2024 JASNA Young Filmmakers’ Contest
January 26, 2025, 1:30 to 3:00 PM
Zoom
Our own Sayre Greenfield and Linda Troost, Professors of English at University of Pittsburgh-Greenfield and Washington and Jefferson College, respectively, were judges for the 2024 AGM’s Young Filmmakers’ Contest. With Sayre and Linda we watched some of these short and very creative movies and heard about what they looked for in them as judges and what we liked as viewers.


Jane Austen, Rhetorician: Her Guide to Noting and Resisting Deceptive Language, or Picking your Way through Bulls***
November 10, 2024, 1:30 to 3:00 PM
Zoom
Talk by JASNA Visiting Lecturer Dr Doug Murray, professor of English Literature at Belmont University. “You might think that concepts such as gaslighting, fake news, mansplaining, ‘gish gallop’ (look it up) and even rape culture are new, but you would be wrong. You might think that Austen's Northanger Abbey (drafted ca. 1797, published 1817) is merely a bubbly story of a silly teenager and a predecessor to Bridgerton, but you would be wrong. Instead, the novel subtly offers warnings about the potential dangers of deceptive language. Through the analysis of a single scene in this novel (with audience participation!), we will note how Austen functions as an analyst of rhetoric.”


Tea & Tour of Old Economy Village
October 13, 2024, 1:00 to 4:00 PM
Old Economy Village
270 16th St, Ambridge, PA 15003
We took a visit back in time to Old Economy Village, built by the Harmonist Society in 1824. We toured Cobblestone street which showcases blacksmith, printer, and carpenter workshops and more. Then, we gathered in the barn for a potluck tea.



Membership

JASNA membership is open to everyone interested in the works and life of Jane Austen.To join JASNA Pittsburgh, join JASNA at the national level and list Pittsburgh as your primary region.Membership at the national level includes:

  • JASNA News quarterly newsletter

  • Persuasions annual journal

  • Membership in one or more regional groups

  • Opt-in email subscription to JASNA’s monthly e-bulletin and other announcements

  • Invitation to the Annual General Meeting national conference

  • Advance notice of tours to England tailored for JASNA members


Pittsburgh Region Mailing List

You are welcome to receive our emails and attend most of our events before you become a member of JASNA. To join our mailing list and hear about upcoming events, fill out the form on the Contact page.



Free Student Memberships

In honor of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday in 2025, JASNA has a special offer for students. Throughout the year, students are eligible for a free one-year membership. Offer available through December 31, 2025.



Contact Us

Send us a message if you'd like to be added to our mailing list, have questions about our events, or simply to say hello. We would love to hear from you!



Antique painting of woman in a white gown seated at a table writing with a feather quill pen