Panellists shed light on why Jane Austen was a revolutionary writer for her times and why she remains relevant for modern readers.
At Austen and Us: Why read Jane Austen in 2026? on 21 January, novelist Tessa Hadley and actor-writers Anni Domingo and Romola Garai joined Professor Lara Feigel, Professor of Modern Literature and Culture in the Department of English, to discuss the value of Austen's work today.
Professor Abigail Williams, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, introduced the event by explaining why Austen is not just relevant for students and academics.
There are always new things to say and find in Austen's novels that show the value of the literature of the past in the present moment.
Professor Abigail Williams, Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts & Humanities
Hadley became familiar with Austen through picture versions of the books in childhood. She still re-reads Austen regularly today, as the novels 'don't wear out on you' and there is always something new to find. Choosing Mansfield Park as her favourite, Hadley cited Austen's influence on her own approach to writing novels.
Austen is like the air one breathes as a reader, and therefore as a writer.
Tessa Hadley
Domingo starred in a theatrical adaptation of Mansfield Park intersecting the original characters alongside enslaved people in Antigua, which is the source of the Bertram family's money in the book. She described how the audience was taken to the world that the characters live off but do not think about, building on what features in the book but is left unsaid. In this way, Austen was telling her readers that she knew what was happening in the world despite being unable to write about it directly.
Across all canons, if we look at literature with a fresh eye, we will find different layers that haven never been explored before.
Anni Domingo
Garai could not connect to Austen's work as a teenager as she felt it was 'not rebellious', yet she gained a new appreciation for her books after starring in an adaptation of Emma. Austen's love for the complexity of people makes great roles for actors - and as there are always new adaptations, it relieves the pressure to create a perfect, definitive, on-screen version, said Garai.
I was really overawed by the humanity of Austen's writing and by the sense that she was this woman kind of alone in a world that did not want her to write books - yet she did.
Romola Garai
Professor Feigel posed questions to the panellists on love and romance in Austen's work, which genre the novels would fall into, and whether she was engaged enough with the defining issues of her time.
The panellists also reflected on the value of studying Austen and other literature today, and how it can help us pay attention to others and the wider world.
Reading a great novel focuses your attention and recalls your connection to other people, and that is an intensely valuable skill to learn and gift to give other people.
Romola Garai
Unless you know about the past in your present, you're ignorant - and literature opens up history to us.
Tessa Hadley
Domingo - who is a PhD student in Creative Writing at King's - highlighted the importance of storytelling as a skill to help us understand ourselves and others, so that we can appreciate other people's views.
Storytelling is so important - that's what binds us and tells us who we are.
Anni Domingo
During the Q&A, attendees asked questions about whether Austen shaped what we expect from female creatives today, whether she was more of a realist or an idealist, and if she aligned with what we expect a feminist to be.
Prior to the event, sixth form pupils from local schools took part in workshops with the panellists on Mansfield Park and completed a tour of King's Strand campus.
The event was part of a series celebrating 250 years since Jane Austen's birth on 16 December 1775, with contributions by academics from across the Faculty of Arts & Humanities.
