The University of Aberdeen will celebrate one of the most exciting literary events of the year with the launch of the first full edition of Jane Austen’s novels in over 80 years.
The event, Celebrating Jane Austen, is being held tonight (Thursday, October 5) and marks the publication of The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen and The Cambridge Edition of Jane Austen, written by internationally renowend author, Professor Janet Todd.
Professor Todd is a distinguished critic of early women writers who joined the University of Aberdeen’s School of Language and Literature in 2005. The prestigious launch of Professor Todd’s nine-volume edition of Jane Austen’s novels is of huge international significance and will play a major role in this year’s UK literary event calendar.
Professor Todd said she was pleased to see years of hard work finally coming to fruition: “I am delighted to be launching both my own Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen and the collaborative Cambridge Edition of Jane Austen. It has been a rare privilege to work with an international group of scholars from the US, Europe and Australia; together we have provided an edition that we hope will be definitive for many decades to come.
“It has been an immensely exciting project and a unique opportunity to work closely on this major author.”
During tonight’s launch event, Aberdeen-based Centre Stage Theatre Company will read excerpts from Jane Austen’s most popular novels including Pride & Prejudice, Emma, and the works she wrote as a child. The literary editor of Cambridge University Press, Linda Bree, will also give a short presentation.
“In recent years thanks to film adaptations and televised productions Jane Austen’s novels have become increasingly popular among a general audience. Pride & Prejudice is the best-known and most frequently dramatised, but by the end of next year all Jane Austen’s novels will have reached the screen. Even her, supposed, love-life is now the subject of a major film,” said Professor Todd.
Professor Todd is also leading a team of scholars at Aberdeen who have created a dedicated Centre for the study of novels. This uses a collection of early fiction that rivals that of any university in the world. The Centre for The Novel, the first of its kind in the UK, was launched in March 2006 to promote the study of novels, novelists and novelistic traditions.
The University of Aberdeen has acquired an exceptional collection of printed works of fiction, many still in their original bindings and until now unread. This treasure trove includes one of the best collections in existence of popular fiction published between 1710 and 1836, when Aberdeen was a copyright library. A key aim of the Centre is to attract scholars and postgraduates to work on this fine collection of early fiction.
To mark the launch of the Centre of The Novel, the University of Aberdeen is now offering a taught Masters (MLitt) in The Novel. This unique course can be completed in one year on a full-time basis or over two years part-time. Students enrolled on the MLitt will be affiliated to the Centre and will participate in all its activities.
Professor Todd added: “The new MLitt forms a key part of the Centre for The Novel and we hope to establish links with other similar centres in Europe and North America to offer students at Aberdeen a diverse course of study.”
The University aims to attract a wide range of students on to the course and is encouraging anyone who is contemplating returning to University to consider the MLitt as an option. For further information on the Centre for The Novel, or to find out more about the MLitt course in 2006-07, contact Professor Janet Todd at j.todd@abdn.ac.uk, or email: novel@abdn.ac.uk, or log on to: www.abdn.ac.uk/english/novel