September 26, 2023

This monthly newsletter will include updates on the publication of my first novel, Remnant, information on related books of interest, book signing events, and speaking engagements.

My mother, Claire O'Connell, was a Janeite - a true lover of Jane Austen. She read and re-read all of Jane Austen's novels, Persuasion becoming her favorite. She visited England and some of the well-known Jane Austen sites, and became one of the first members of JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America) in the early 1980s. When she died in 2016 I thought it appropriate to join JASNA and continue the family tradition. I have attended several AGMs (Annual General Meetings) since 2016, either alone, with my sister Caroline, or with my husband Bill. Each one has been delightful, learning new aspects of Austen and her novels, the music, the food, the gardens, the churches, the balls!

For this year's AGM, I submitted a proposal, and to my delight, it was accepted. I'll be leading a breakout session on The Bennet Female Agency. See the details below. If you attend the upcoming JASNA AGM in Denver, I'd love to meet you!

B1. Catherine Sweeting, Hudson County Community College, NJ  BREAKOUT SESSION B. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 3:45pm - 4:30pm
The Bennet Female Agency

The Bennet female agency is not a detective firm, but an exploration of how the Bennet women exert female agency. In the Regency era, choices, options, and agency for women were limited. This session will explore five ways the Bennet women exercise control over their lives and destinies, particularly as it relates to finding a suitable partner. The presentation will touch upon Jane Austen's employment of female agency in her female characters' lives, and will reference writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Virginia Woolf. Use of the NearPod app will enhance this interactive presentation.

Katie Sweeting is Professor of English at Hudson County Community College, focusing on World and British Literature. In 2015, she was awarded a grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities to study Slavery in the American Republic, researching her historical novel on Olaudah Equiano. She was awarded a Fulbright-Nehru grant and taught two courses at Fergusson College, Pune, India, in 2022, along with founding a Jane Austen Book Club.