SYRIE JAMES is the international, USA Today, and Amazon bestselling author of thirteen critically acclaimed novels of historical and contemporary fiction, including The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen, Jane Austen’s First Love, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë, and Dracula My Love. A life member of the WGA, JASNA, and the Historical Novel Society, Syrie has sold 20 screenplays to film and television and written, directed, and performed in original plays across North America and off-Broadway in New York. Syrie has been a plenary, special session, and breakout speaker at numerous JASNA AGMs and regional chapters and at Chawton House Library in England. Her books have been translated into 21 languages, been Library Journal Editor’s Picks of the Year, and won many awards including the Audiobook Audie.Join us to hear about Syrie's inspirations and understanding of what Austen means to audiences today.

Uzma Jalaluddin is a critically acclaimed and bestselling novelist, playwright, and teacher. She writes nuanced and entertaining stories about Muslims, South Asians, and Canadians and is the author of MUCH ADO ABOUT NADA (2023), THREE HOLIDAYS AND A WEDDING (2023), HANA KHAN CARRIES ON (2021) and AYESHA AT LAST (2019) as well as her first play, THE RISHTA (2023). Her novels have been optioned for film and television, including by Amazon Studios and Mindy Kaling.

Sam Wright is a professional actor, writer, and producer in Kansas City, Missouri AND Kansas, where he has worked for the last 20 years. He holds a BFA in Theater Art, has won two Best of Kansas City awards, an ARTSKC Inspiration Award, and an Artist Residency Award at Music Theater Heritage. His writing credits include the solo show, Crazy Horse: A Dream of Thunder, a zombie apocalypse rock opera, SlaughterHouse Opera, and, along with co-creator Nicholas Collett, the new folk musical Prejudice & Pride. Prejudice & Pride is a full-length, modern, American, gender-flipped musical reimagining of Austen's novel with an original folk score by Wright. It won Sinners Review's #1 Best Show at Edinburgh Fringe 2022, and then ran for six weeks Off-Broadway last summer, where Playbill named it one of the Top Ten Off-Broadway Shows To See This Summer.

New York Times bestselling author Sayantani DasGupta has written over ten books, including the critically acclaimed, Bengali folktale and string-theory-inspired Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond books, the first of which—The Serpent’s Secret—was a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, a Booklist Best Middle Grade Novel of the 21st Century, and an EB White Read Aloud Honor Book. For our event, Sayantani will talk about two of her books, Debating Darcy and Rosewood: A Midsummer Meet Cute. These novels are contemporary young adult adaptations of Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Her presentation is entitled: "Subversive or Submissive? Diverse YA retellings of Regency Tales." Join us to hear about Sayantani's inspirations and understanding of what Austen means to audiences today. Sayantani is a pediatrician by training, but now teaches Narrative Medicine, Comparative Literature, and Race & Ethnic studies at Columbia University. She is a team member of We Need Diverse Books, and can be found online at sayantanidasgupta.com, on X at @sayantani16 and on both instagram and TikTok @sayantanidasguptabooks.

C.K. Chau is a Chinese-American writer based in New York. She holds a master's degree in English Literature from Hunter College. She has previously contributed to LitHub and Bright Wall/Dark Room, among others. GOOD FORTUNE is her debut novel, which critics have called "whip-smart and charming." She will talk about the inspiration for her Austen adaptation, GOOD FORTUNE. In her presentation, (Dis)Place-ing Austen: Rediscovering Place in Adaptation, C.K. will talk about the role of place in Pride and Prejudice as a frame for marking relationship and character shifts. More broadly, C.K. wants to consider what place means in terms of 'modernizing' a sense of politics within Pride and Prejudice. Join us to hear about C.K.'s inspirations and understanding of what Austen means to audiences today.

USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev writes Bollywood-style stories that explore universal issues. Her novels have been named Best Books of the Year by Library Journal, NPR, the Washington Post, and Kirkus. Her Rajes Family series tantalizingly toys with Austen's plots. Join us to hear about Sonali's inspirations and understanding of what Austen means to audiences today.