Good Afternoon everyone,
This has been an important year for the JAFF community due to the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death, and as you know, several events were organised in the memory of our favourite author. I was lucky to be present in some of the events that occurred in England last July, but I never expected to have an opportunity to participate in something of the kind in Portugal.
However, a couple of months ago I heard about a conference that was going to take place in Lisbon to celebrate Jane Austen’s life and work by discussing how her books form part of the contemporary experience of love, gender, family, social and pecuniary relations and how her writing style, her silences as well as her favourite topics, and her language have shaped modern-day literature, both in the UK and abroad. In a nutshell, that conference aims to discuss both the author’s rootedness in the late 18th and early 19thcenturies, her authorial longevity and acumen, and her pop star fame in the last 20 years.
I was immediately interested in attending this conference but I also saw an opportunity to discuss JAFF amongst scholars and to show everybody how relevant and diverse this genre is, so I filled myself with courage, and with Nicole Clarkston and Joana Starnes’s assistance wrote an abstract to apply as a speaker. I didn’t have a lot of hope of being accepted because I’m not a scholar and this was clearly out of my league, but guess what? They actually thought my theme was interesting and they liked my application, so I was accepted!!!
I am very excited to be participating in such a great and important initiative, but also a little nervous, so I would like to ask you all for some help! I would feel much more comfortable if I was able to bring some statistics with me, I believe that would give my presentation more credibility and visibility, so I would like to ask all my friends who have been supporting me for the last 2 years, to please spare 3 min of your time and fill the below questionnaire that the lovely and kind Meredith from Austenesque Reviews helped me build.
The questionnaire is anonymous and aims to understand the JAFF community a little better, it will help me to have more data to support my presentation and give me more strength in the representation of the community.
I will be sharing the results of the questionnaire, as I’m sure you are as curious as me to know some of the findings, and I will also share with you my experience at the conference, but to thank you all for your kindness in collaborating with me, I would also like to offer one of my readers a JAFF e-book of his choice. To apply, all you have to do fill the questionnaire, and comment saying you have already done so (as it is anonymous, I’ll trust your word that you have done so). Sharing this post on the social media will give you extra entries for the giveaway, but please mention that on the comment as well so that I can keep track. I will announce the winner once I publish the results of the questionnaire, and the winner may choose the e-book he wants, as long as it is a JAFF book.
I would like to thanks Nicole Clarkston and Joana Starnes for the help with the abstract that got me accepted as a speaker at the conference, to Meredith Esparza who helped me build the questionnaire, and to all of you who will fill this questionnaire to help me!!!
Thank you for participating, and good luck in the giveaway!!!
Done with the survey! I have also shared it on my twitter account @anicamnesia.☺
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Thank you so much!!!
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Done! Congratulations(I think) personally this would be my idea of a nightmare but I know you will excel, especially with the talented helpers you have. Good luck Rita.
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Thank you so much Glynis! I’m a little nervous about it! Fingers crossed :))
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Congratulations! How exciting! And survey done.
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Thank you!!!
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Done!
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Thank you!!
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Completed survey. Shared on twitter and google plus.
Can’t wait to hear the results!
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Thank you so much!!
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Done, and I will share on FB and Twitter.
Hats off to you for stepping forward to speak, Rita.
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Thank you!!
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Done. Congrats by the way
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Thank you so much!!
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Completed
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Thank you Ginna!
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Rita,
What a great honour to be accepted as a speaker at the upcoming event!! You must be chuffed!!
Have completed the survey but cannot share it on social media as I don’t participate on any forums.
Wishing you the very best of luck with your presentation! Take a deep breath,stand tall and remember that we are all thinking of you and wishing you every success!!
Let us know how it goes!!! 😊📕🎉
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Thank you Mary!! I’m a bit nervous, but deep down I know I’ll do fine because I’ll be talking about something I love and know a lot about right? If there is anything I’m an expert at (apart from the x-files) it is JAFF 🙂
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Congratulations! I know you will do fantastic. I’ve finished the survey and will go share it on social media now.
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Thank you Anna 🙂
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Done! Although I had a question on the when question. I like when the story begins any time, not any other time. The other confused me.
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Thank you Kathy!
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It must be very exciting to hold a presentation on the topic of JAFF. I envy you and I’m curious about your conclusions.
I completed the survey, hope it will help. Good luck!
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Thank you so much Agnes 🙂 it is very exciting and I hope I do well in representing the community 🙂
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I’ve done it, curious to find out the results 🙂
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Thank you! I promise to share them before the year is over 🙂
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I have filled out the survey and shared it on my FB page. Congratulations on your speaking engagement!!
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Thank you so much!!
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Congratulations, Rita! I completed the questionnaire. Looking forward to the final results.
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Thank you so much!!
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Survey done. Congratulations on this opportunity!
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Thank you Maureen :))
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Some very interesting survey questions, Rita! Several asked about preferences I’ve never really considered and had to think about. Yes, I did complete it, and I wish you all the best at the conference. I’m sure you’ll be wonderful. It sounds like it’ll be a great experience. Enjoy!
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Done
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Thank you :))
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Those were fun questions to give serious thought. Thank you!
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Thanks for participating :))
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Congratulations, Rita — I have no doubt that you will add significantly to this conference. I look forward to hearing afterwards of your success. And I am happy to help by answering your questions.
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Nice survey, Rita. I hope you feature the online posting groups and not just books, as they represent a huge number of JAFF readers. Best of luck on the presentation. I’m really proud of your initiative to do it and know you are an excellent person to represent all of us.
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Done 🙂
I am very proud that you are doing this!! It is awesome, we’ll talk more about it.
Difficult to answer when you prefer P&P variations start..
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Done. Congratulations and good luck!
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Done 🙂
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I did the survey
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Congratulations on being accepted as a speaker! I was so glad to take the survery for you. I hope you will share the results after the presentation as I, too, would like to know. I know you will represent JAFF well.
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Done! Congrats on your upcoming speech! That’s wonderful!
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Done! Congratulations on stepping up and letting your voice be heard! Jane herself would be proud of you!
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So happy for you ,Rita. Really looking forward to both the results of your survey and hearing about your presentation! All the very best to you
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Done. Congratulations for getting your abstract accepted, Rita Hurray!
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I’ve completed the survey! Congratulations on your writing!
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Thank you.
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Good questions!
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Done 🙂 Congrats and hope it helps!
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Done! I will repost it and see if someone else answers.
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How exciting!! Good luck with everything!!
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All done. I also shared it on both my twitter (@mandibloom) and Google+ (the account I’m commenting with).
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Done and shared on Twitter via AiB.
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Just completed the survey. Congrats on Love being selected as a speaker! So excited for you, especially being able to discuss JAFF to Jane Austen scholars & fans who are new to the community. Can’t wait to see your results from the survey & your experience at the conference. Love the JAFF community. Just finished reading “These Dreams” by Nicole, loved it. What a Coincidence that part of her story was in Spain. ❤️that Joana & Meredith helped out as well.
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Wow! Congrats on getting picked, but moreso for putting yourself out there to be a part of the conference. Rooting for you, Rita!
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Oh, and I did the survey. And I’ll try to get you more participants. Shared on FB and Twitter.
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Questionnaire completed – I am looking forward to hearing the results 🙂 The giveaway is a great bonus! Thanks for sharing, Rita 🙂
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Done!
denise
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I took the survey. Interesting questions and I can see their relevance. Good luck on your conference and I hope all goes well.
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All done. I hope we can see a copy of presentation and the feedback fr the conference. What an amazing opportunity.
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Done and I will share on Twitter. Good luck with the presentation!
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done and good luck!
as an added thought…I read most of my JAFF on e-reader because I read so much of it my family would make fun of me. It is rather an addiction at this point but all the authors keep coming up with new stories I want to read!
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Done. I actually found it interesting
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Hi Rita, I just took the survey! Good luck on your presentation!! 🙂
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Completed the survey. Cannot wait to see if there are other Janeites from my country, Malaysia. Shared at FB page
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Done
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