Virtual JaneCon 2023: Interview with Lacy Phillips.

Virtual JaneCon 2023: Interview with Lacy Phillips. 

If the lockdowns brought any positives, it was the rise of virtual meetings. The ability to reach across towns, cities and countries, share conversations and our passions, has been something we have clung onto. One such virtual, and actual joy, is Virtual JaneCon. Started in 2020, JaneCon continues to delight and unite Austen fans across the globe. Entering its fourth year this July, Virtual JaneCon is coming to a a screen near you, in fact to your sofa! So, don those bonnets and get ready to learn everything you wanted, and perhaps some things you did not even know you wanted, to know, about Jane Austen.

❖   How would you describe Virtual JaneCon?                                                                          

Virtual JaneCon is a free, online convention by and for fans that takes place over a week-end in July to celebrate the life, works, and world of Jane Austen through a wide range of self-produced video programming. Virtual JaneCon supports the unironic enthusiasm and collective passion of fans of Austen’s works by giving them a place to gather online and let loose their wildest fan theories to an equally interested audience. Presentations can include academic discussions of Austen’s works, guest author talks, presentations on historical contexts, costuming, film adaptations, fan panels, and more!

❖   Why Jane Austen?

Because her writing is a masterful combination of comedy and commentary that never goes out of style. Her focus on deeply human themes gives her work a timeless feeling. It’s also worth noting that Austen’s fiction, compared with her contemporaries, is lightning-paced which continues to be more accessible to modern readers than much of the 19th century canon.

And why now? While Jane Austen's works themselves haven't changed, the way they are perceived and the conversations and creative projects they spark in the fandom are constantly evolving so there are always new perspectives to discover. We're getting important conversations about racism in the fandom, retellings and adaptations with BIPOC and queer characters, creative new ways of adapting the novels, new academic conversations about Austen and slavery, etc.  There is always something new to talk about, and this con especially has the mission to give room to all these perspectives, including giving room to voices that are systemically ignored or oppressed in other spaces.

(I got help from my fellow volunteers Liz McCord and Charlie Ha in answering this one!)

 

❖   What is your proudest JaneCon moment?

As an organiser, my proudest moments have been when I can step up and take on a task that needs doing. There’s an amazing team behind the scenes here at JaneCon with a variety of top talents, so it’s a really good feeling to be able to contribute.

As a presenter, I’m always proud of being able to take on the click-bait-iest sounding topics and turn them into serious discussions with a minimum of “drama” or controversy. Past topics have included an exploration of the question “Did Mr. Knightley Groom Emma?” and a look at fat characters in Austen’s works and filmed adaptations and what challenges fat cosplayers face when getting involved in Regency-era costuming. Both of those topics could be triggering and devolve to a point where not much is gained from having a conversation about them, but I think my presentations gave people a lot to think about.

❖   What is in store at Jane Con 2023?

JaneCon 2023 will have almost the same number of presentations as last year’s schedule, and the topics include some areas of relevant interest that have never been covered in the three previous Cons including a primer on English Country Dancing, a discussion of what future filmed Austen adaptations could look like, a look into Austen contemporary Mary Wollstonecraft’s life and works, and a discussion of the relationship between Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy through the lens of Taylor Swift’s music! The organisers are really excited for attendees to start getting a look at the excellent sessions in store for them in July.

❖    What was your first encounter with Jane?

I believe my first encounter with Jane was the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma film adaptation from the mid-90’s. I didn’t fall instantly in love with it, because of course Emma is a hard character to love. My first reading of Pride and Prejudice was in 2006, inspired by the movie adaptation that came out in 2005, and in 2007 I did a deeper dive into her works though I didn’t become active in Austen fan spaces until the mid 2010s. It’s fortunate that her works are so infinitely re-readable, that there is always more to discover in the pages themselves, and that there is always a churn of updated film and television adaptations and spin-off fiction being published for news fans to have first encounters of their own!

❖   What Austen character do you most identify with?

I am always drawn into Austen’s more serious and reserved characters. A lot of my personality aligns with Eleanor Dashwood. She’s very practical and self-contained, and I’m a lot like that. And I know Mary Bennet has a bad reputation in the fandom because of how her character has been interpreted in some of the filmed adaptations, but I think her studiousness is actually something to aspire to. She reminds me a lot of my younger self.

❖   What was the most surprising fact you have learnt from Jane Con?

One of the things that I’ve been able to apply most in my professional and personal life from both being an organiser of JaneCon and from founder Bianca Hernandez’s 2021 program entitled “Levelling Up Your Jane Austen Book Club” has been how to do diversity and inclusion initiatives the right way. There are a lot of great tips in that session on how to improve accessibility and become truly anti-racist. As the JaneCon organisation works toward continually improving on providing equitable access and creating a space that’s welcoming to all fans of Jane’s work, I learn from the work we’re doing and can take those lessons into my day job in publishing.

❖   What do you think Jane would be writing now?

I feel like the easy answer that many would reach for is that Jane would be involved in the Romance community and have multiple best-selling titles, but I think she’d be a freelance humor columnist writing political satire. Maybe she’d be a show writer on a late night talk show and would be out on strike with the Writers Guild of America right now.

❖   Where do you see Virtual Jane Con in 5 years?

Virtual JaneCon is working to expand in a sustainable and smart way to grow the community beyond just one weekend in July. There have been discussions about having some ongoing programming in December to celebrate Jane’s birthday, and of course we’re going to be working towards becoming a 501(c)3 registered nonprofit over the coming years. In person events aren’t outside the realm of possibility, either.

❖   Finally, what do you think Jane would have chosen as her presentation subject at Virtual Jane Con?

“Why You Should Stay a Spinster”

I say this partially in jest, but it’s true that a lot of readers assume that because Jane ended her novels by romantically pairing up her characters that she must have naturally been dissatisfied with her own status as a single woman. But I think her decision to remain unmarried must have been an intentional one, and her surviving letters are filled with so much evidence of her domestic contentment. I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility to imagine Jane as an advocate for the single life.

Excellent points, Lacy! I can only agree with all of the above, I too, think Jane would be spinning out political puns and social satire whilst being happily single and out on the picket line! 

If you want to catch more interesting insights and learn about all things Jane, then tune into Virtual JaneCon on the 15-16th July. 

You can catch up on previous JaneCon's on YouTube at: #VirtualJaneCon 

You can find them on: 

Twitter: @virtualjanecon

Facebook: Virtual Jane Con 

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Or sign up to their newsletter via: virtualjanecon.com 

 I look forward to seeing you there!