Jane Austen festival planned April 23-29

The Center for the Humanities will present its first Humanities Festival, “Jane Austen in the 21st Century,” April 23-29 in venues on campus and around Madison.

The weeklong festival will feature more than 30 events and 30 speakers covering topics including Austen as a teenager, Austen and war, and Austen in cyberspace.

Keynote speakers will be novelist Margaret Drabble and screenwriter Andrew Davies. Most events are free but registration is required to ensure seating.

“This event will bring together the talents of scholars, writers, artists, musicians, dancers, actors, radio and TV hosts, and other special guests to capture the amazing life, colorful era, profound writings, and extraordinary legacy of Jane Austen,” says Emily Auerbach, festival director and professor of English at UW–Madison.

“The Center is pleased to be putting on this humanities festival,” says Steven Nadler, director of the Center and professor of philosophy, “particularly because it will bring the University, the community and visitors from around the world together in so many different ways.”

To request registration materials, call 608 263-3409; e-mail info@humanities.wisc.edu; or visit http://www.humanities.wisc.edu/festival/.

Here are some highlights from each day of the Austen festival. All events are free unless otherwise noted:

• Monday, April 23: Margaret Drabble, novelist and Austen scholar, “Jane Austen and My Father: Paternal Authority in the Works of Austen,” Great Hall, Memorial Union, 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 24: Claudia L. Johnson, author of “Jane Austen: Women, Politics, and the Novel,” lectures on “A Cold Horror at the Back of the Mind: Jane Austen and War,” On Wisconsin Room, Red Gym , 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 25: “Four Turbulent Decades: Jane Austen (1775 -1817) in Historical Context,” Emily Auerbach (overview), Susan Bernstein (Austen’s neighborhood), Thomas Broman (science), Suzanne Desan (French Revolution), John Kaminski (American Revolution), Nancy Marshall (art), Nellie McKay (African-American literature), Virginia Sapiro (early feminism), David Woodward (maps), Memorial Union Theater, 7-9 p.m.
• Thursday, April 26: Jacqueline Reid-Walsh, founder of the first Austen e-mail discussion group, McGill University, “Jane Austen in Cyberspace,” live Internet workshop, Writing Center Computer Classroom and 6191 H.C. White, 1 p.m.
• Friday, April 27: Andrew Davies, screenwriter, Pride and Prejudice (BBC-TV), “Mr. Darcy in the Bath and Other Temptations: Thoughts on Adapting Classic Fiction for the Screen,” Music Hall, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, April 28: English Country Dance with Boston musicians and recording artists, Jacqueline Schwab and Earl Gaddis of Bare Necessities with Daron Douglas Music, dancing and refreshments. Monona Terrace, downtown Madison (8 p.m.) $10
• Sunday, April 29: “A Celebration of Jane Austen.” Emily Auerbach, narration; Sybil Robinson, readings; Amy McFarland, piano; Maria Terres, fiddle; with English country dancers, Stoughton Opera House, 381 E. Main St., Stoughton (7:30 p.m.) $10
• Ongoing exhibit: “Art from Austen’s Era: A Selection of British Nineteenth-Century Watercolors,” Elvehjem Museum of Art.

For more information, contact Joan Strasbaugh, (608) 263-3409, info@humanities.wisc.edu, or Emily Auerbach, (608) 262-3733.