Can You Be in Three Places at Once on April 16?

If so, we heartily envy you--because there are not one but three events of interest to CNY Janeites taking place on that date, in widely separated locations:

First, your Regional Coordinators will be reprising their JASNA Syracuse Lady Day 2010 presentation, "In the Garden with Jane Austen," at the JASNA Rochester meeting on the 16th at the Pittsford Barnes and Noble, 1 pm. In addition to recommending Kim Wilson's excellent book by that title, A. Marie Sprayberry will describe and show photos of Jane Austen's garden at Chawton Cottage, and will link her discussion to last month's "Jane Austen and Food" Rochester program. Lisa Brown will give a brief guide to landscape gardening of JA's era--with emphasis on the "ha-ha," the feature that plays such an important role in Mansfield Park.

Second, the Colgate JA Book Club will be discussing Claire Harman's book Jane's Fame at its April 16 meeting at the Colgate Bookstore, 3 Utica St., Hamilton. Newly available in paperback (at a 10% discount at the Bookstore), this book raised some controversy when it was first published in 2009, and we know the discussion will be lively!

The third April 16 event is taking place somewhat farther afield. The JASNA Ohio North Coast Region is sponsoring a special event titled "Remembering Jane Austen" on this date in Cleveland. The emphasis here will be on obituaries and memorial observances of the Regency era. And the event includes a walking tour of Cleveland's oldest and loveliest cemetery; a lunch at Nighttown in Cleveland Heights, with presentations by Tim Bullamore (the publisher/editor of the Jane Austen's Regency World magazine) and Juliette Wells (who spoke at the JASNA Rochester lunch this past December); and the winning efforts in an essay contest where the challenge was to write an obituary for one of JA's characters (imagine what you could do with Lady Catherine de Bourgh or Sir Walter Elliot!)--so things shouldn't be at all morbid. Click here for further details and registration information.

Finally, lest we give the impression that all the upcoming JA-related excitement will be taking place on April 16, save the dates for two events in May: the Rochester Jane Austen Ball on May 1, co-sponsored by the Country Dancers of Rochester and JASNA Rochester; and JASNA Syracuse's May Day meeting at RiverRead Books in Binghamton on May 7, where the topic will be the Juvenilia. Details about both these events will be provided soon.