Jane Austen’s 250th birthday celebrated at Port Macquarie Hastings Library

IT’S been 250 years since celebrated writer Jane Austen was born in the village of Steventon in North Hampshire, England.

Port Macquarie “Janeites” (Jane Austen devotees) are among those around the world who have been celebrating the significance of 16 December 1775, with tea parties, readings and Regency Balls.

Local fans celebrated at Port Macquarie-Hastings Library on Saturday 6 December, where they could retreat from the hot day.

Austen delighted in warm air, writing in a letter to her sister Cassandra in 1815: ”I enjoy it all over me… a nice, unwholesome, unseasonable, relaxing, close, muggy weather.”

Austen is known for six novels, originally published under the moniker “A Lady.”

These were the subject of a light-hearted quiz during the library gathering.

Angela Frimberger, whose knowledge of Austen saw her find success with the quiz, is a member of the Jane Austen Society of Australia and recently attended the JASA conference in Canberra.

“Dr Devoney Looser, an American literary critic and Jane Austen scholar, was the keynote speaker, and she was wonderful,” Angela said.

Her most recent book, ‘Wild for Austen’, was a popular choice at the Bookface table where there were beautiful editions of Austen’s novels, and other items honouring her legacy.

Those in elegant Regency attire found themselves in contention for prizes.

Some had acquired their costume from a dressmaker, including Karen Adams whose mother had made her gown for Book Week years ago.

Guests settled in for a gentle afternoon with Miss Anne Elliot (Sally Hawkins) in the 2007 adaptation of “Persuasion.”

The film is set in Bath, England, a town synonymous with Austen and her work, and where she lived from 1801-1806.

The library team, Jen Stevens, Kia Wood, Gail Wood and Penny Evans were attentive and generous hosts for an event that Jane Austen herself would surely have enjoyed.

By Pauline CAIN