Dr. Jennifer Kloester is a leading expert on Georgette Heyer and has written extensively about her life and works. She is also an accomplished fiction writer and literary lecturer who has spoken on Jane Austen, Heyer, and others throughout Australia and around the world. In 2019, she published Jane Austen’s Ghost, a reimagining of Austen in the modern world marked by historical scholarship. I spoke with Dr. Kloester about Austen’s importance in Australia and the ways in which this importance informs the humanities.
Dr. Kloester recalls her first distinct memories of engaging with and reading Jane Austen
Dr. Kloester discusses what she identifies as a visceral reaction to Austen’s fiction
Dr. Kloester tells the origin story of Jane Austen’s Ghost
Dr. Kloester outlines some of her methods and strategies in Jane Austen’s Ghost and considers its appeal to diverse readers
Dr. Kloester reflects on the versatility, malleability, and accessibility of Austen and her stories
Dr. Kloester Northanger Abbey, the process of developing or acquiring knowledge, and the integral role of ignorance in this process
Dr. Kloester discusses the importance of the humanities for helping us to develop intellectual openness, versatility, and malleability