Hello Virtual JaneCon Friends! We are excited to announce that this year’s VJC is coming to your screens on July 18 and 19th this summer.
Since you’re a newsletter subscriber we can also let you know that program submissions will run from February 23rd to April 12th! We will send the submission form in February (and if you’re lucky mayyyyybe we will send it early).
We can’t wait to see your program ideas for this year! During our planning meeting we floated a few ideas that could help folks looking for inspiration:
With the controversial™️ “Wuthering Heights” adaptation from Emerald Fennell coming out soon, this could be a great time to discuss Austen and Brontë adaptations, or perhaps the underlying gothic elements we’re seeing trend in adaptations.
Bridgerton’s latest season is dropping soon, and we are confident there are plenty of ideas here. Maybe someone will tackle comparing the financial undertones of a classic Cinderella story and Pride and Prejudice? Maybe one of you will delve into the lives of the “downstairs” staff in the Regency world? Or maybe we will see more discussion of the nuances of East Asian rep in historical drama?
The Count of Monte Cristo is coming to PBS later this year, and we’d love to see someone talking about Daddy Dumas! Napoleonic content is also welcome, along with a longer look at Dumas’ POV on the era.
With The Other Bennet Sister coming … sometime… this could be a great year for someone to talk about Mary Bennet and all the ways she has been interpreted in Jane Austen Fan Fiction.
Though Focus Features’ Sense and Sensibility won’t be out in time for our virtual event, there are plenty of interesting presentations that could come from this! Someone might want to make a timeline of S&S adaptations or look into the themes of the novel and tease out what audiences want to see in the next adaptation.
Lastly (for now), we need volunteers! Yes, this lovely little con cannot happen without YOU. If you have some bandwidth to help out behind-the-scenes, we’d love to have your help! Email [email protected] and we can get you set up. This year we’re looking for folks who can step up and help with reviewing programming submissions, copy editing social copy, sending newsletters (like this one!) and more.