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Writer's pictureJennifer Abella

Jane Austen & Co.'s new series, 'Race and the Regency,' is underway

Jane Austen & Co., one of Jane Austen Summer Program's initiatives to bring free programming to Austen fans, has begun its new series of virtual talks, focusing on "Race and the Regency."


To kick off the series, Professor Danielle Christmas (UNC-Chapel Hill), who will co-host the series, discussed Lord Mansfield and the slave ship Zong and its ties to Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park." You can view the recording of her presentation here.


On Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. (EST), we're excited to sit down with author Ibi Zoboi, whose 2018 novel "Pride" sets Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" in modern-day Brooklyn. The novel centers on Zuri Benitez, an Afro-Latino teen who has deep pride in her roots and her neighborhood, which is facing gentrification. She meets her match when Darius Darcy's family moves in across the street.


Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and raised in New York City, Zoboi is an award-winning best-selling author. Her YA novel "American Street" was a 2017 National Book Award finalist. Her latest, "Punching the Air," was co-written with prison reform activist Dr. Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five.




Other upcoming talks in the series include "Abolition and the Female Consumer" (March 16) with Patricia Matthew, "Representations of Race in Bridgerton and the Regency" (March 25) with Robert Morrison, a speaker at this year's Jane Austen Summer Program; and "Bridgerton's Queen Charlotte" (April 13) with Damianne Scott. Check out our full schedule below and find more information about Jane Austen & Co here.







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