Meet My Jane Austen Muse

Posted by Jennyvi Dizon on July 9, 2022

In a few days, I'll be celebrating my one-year anniversary as a JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America) member and I'm reminded of all the good things that have come my way. In the last year, I've created the Jane Austen Collection, attended my first JASNA Annual General Meeting, learned how to English Country dance and gained so many new friends, including my real-life muse (Sarah) Rose Kearns.

Sarah Rose Kearns as Jane Austen

(Sarah) Rose Kearns in Jane Austen's body from the 1869 painting by James Andrews. The original sketch was done by Cassandra Austen in 1810.

Rose and I met a week after I joined at an event she coordinated to honor Miguel Angel Jordan, the author of Jane and since then she has been a constant source of inspiration. From her accomplishments as a playwright and her involvement in JASNA, I really don't think it's a coincidence that my creativity is at an all-time high. I hope you'll be able to meet her in person one day, but for now here she is in digital form along with some of her events.

(Don't forget to scroll all the way to the bottom for photos / video of the cast of Mr. Malcolm's List from the preview event Rose and I attended)

Sarah Rose Kearns is a writer, performer, and lifelong Austen enthusiast. She studied acting with Dan Daily, Ragnar Freidank, Austin Pendleton, and many others; and she holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from Columbia University. Her stage adaptation of Persuasion debuted off-Broadway in 2021, while her one-act play Manydown, which imagines one important night in the life of Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, has recently been produced as a radio drama, available to purchase through Audible. Rose is the most recent recipient of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) International Visitor Program fellowship; she will travel to Chawton, UK, in the summer of 2022 to conduct research for another biographical play about the Austen sisters. She is a frequent speaker on Austen and the art of adaptation and has discussed her work at such venues as The Peabody Institute in Baltimore, The Jane Austen Summer Program in Chapel Hill, HB Studio, and The New York Society Library. She serves as a member of the JASNA committee for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Jane Austen, Dramatized

Playwright Kate Hamill, scholar Devoney Looser, and blogger-librarian Tabrizia Jones discuss Jane Austen's place in the theatrical canon and the many, varied representations of her novels on stage . . . past, present, and future.

Space is limited. Please click here to claim your place now.

https://attendee.gototraining.com/r/3223091217060141313

All proceeds will help to fund The Holy Theatre's workshop of Persuasion, a new play by Sarah Rose Kearns, at The Warwick Institute of Culture.

Sarah Rose Kearns and Jennyvi Dizon