A Community of Readers and Writers!
Our main goal is to house a community of non-academic and academic readers and writers. At The Phaeton we value engagements with Austen for how they provide a means to create community among readers and writers with diverse approaches to Austen and her work, and for how they allow us to connect with readers and writers across time and space. What we call “engagements” include: Jane Austen Fan Fiction, fiction and non-fiction inspired by Austen, film and TV adaptations of Austen’s work, literary tourism, and paraphernalia. We aim to represent both longstanding and new forms of engaging with Austen and seek to publish first-time review writers alongside seasoned reviewers. Engagements with the work of her female contemporaries are very much welcome.
Why A Phaeton?
In Pride and Prejudice when Mr. Collins’ describes how Anne de Bourgh “condescends to drive by [his] humble abode in her little phaeton and ponies,” Austen is poking fun at Mr. Collins’ sycophantic relationship with de Bourgh and highlighting the complex–and often fragile–bonds that sustained the social world of her time. We think of the phaeton as a means of connecting readers and writers by discussing present and past engagements with Austen, and by bringing the issues that Austen cared about to bear upon our own time as we consider contemporary social, political, cultural, and even environmental issues.
We're Glad You Are Interested in Submitting A Review!
The Phaeton accepts 1000-word review essays on engagements with Austen. Our only requirement is that reviews make connections between Austen’s time and our own.
Reviews will be read by The Phaeton’s editors. We approach the editorial process with a workshop spirit: we will offer up to five rounds of feedback and guide you through the revision process because what excites us most is to share your ideas and excitement about Austen and her afterlives. If you would like to review a different kind of engagement, have an idea you’d like to test out first, or would like some advice on how to write a review for submission, please send us a Direct Message via our Twitter handle @janeatplu or by emailing thephaetonreview@gmail.com
For now, The Phaeton will be a monthly publication. If we are lucky enough to receive more submissions, we will publish more often.
