Deborah Yaffe
(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The Princeton Branch of the English-Speaking Union will host a talk about iconic writer Jane Austen on Sunday, April 19, 2026 at the Monument Hall (One Monument Drive) in Princeton . There will be a $10 charge for nonmembers. The event begins at 3:00pm.
Two hundred and fifty years after her birth, Jane Austen has a secure place in two worlds: the academic pantheon of English literature, and the pop-culture sphere of fanfiction, heritage tourism, and souvenir merch. In her talk, titled "Jane Austen, Superstar: From Classic Author to Pop-Culture Phenomenon," author Deborah Yaffe will discuss Jane Austen's life and work, and the fandom that has grown up around them.
Deborah Yaffe is an award-winning author and newspaper journalist, as well as a passionate Jane Austen fan. After hearing her stories about the people she was meeting in the vibrant online community of Austen readers, her husband urged her to give them a book of their own. Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the World of Jane Austen Fandom is the result.
As a newspaper reporter in New Jersey and California for more than thirteen years, Yaffe covered education, the law, and state government. Her first book, Other People's Children: The Battle for Justice and Equality in New Jersey's Schools, initially supported by a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a gripping narrative history of the state's efforts to provide equal educational opportunities to rich and poor schoolchildren.
Yaffe holds a bachelor's degree in humanities from Yale University and a master's degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from Oxford University in England, which she attended on a Marshall Scholarship.
She works as a freelance journalist and lives in central New Jersey with her husband and her Jane Austen Action Figure. Her two adult children visit from time to time.
Founded in 1920, The English-Speaking Union is a nonprofit, nonpolitical educational organization that employs English as a catalyst to foster global understanding and good will through educational and cultural exchange programs. The ESU carries out its work through a network of 58 Branches nationwide along with affiliates in the United Kingdom and 60 other countries. New members are welcome.
