Louisiana Region: Emma—The Beginning and the Ending

Emma: The Beginning and the Ending

Join the Louisiana Region for a literary conference on Emma, featuring two scholarly talks addressing these intriguing aspects of Austen’s most ambitious novel.  

Sarah Allison will open the program with a discussion of the prescient first words, “Emma Woodhouse, Handsome, Clever, and Rich.” Allison is Hutchinson Distinguished Professor and director of composition in the Department of English at Loyola University of New Orleans. Her specialty is Victorian literature.

Inger S. B. Brodey will speak on “In the Perfect Happiness of the Union: Jane Austen’s Happy Endings and the Case of Hartfield.” Brodey is an award-winning professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is founder and director of the annual Jane Austen Summer Program and co-host of the web series Jane Austen and Co. Her forthcoming book, Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness, will be published by the Johns Hopkins University Press in June 2024. 

The program is free and open to the public, and ample off street parking is available. Luncheon with the speakers follows the program and the cost is $15 per person. No advance registration is necessary to attend the conference but reservations are required to attend the luncheon.

RSVP or send questions to Regional Coordinator Andrea Brown.