October 29 - November 1, 2026
JW Marriott Starr Pass
Tucson, Arizona
AGM Registration Update
September 1 Update: Both Attendee and Companion spaces are AVAILABLE. Read more on the Registration page.
Welcome!
Join fellow JASNA members in sunny Tucson, Arizona, for our 2026 Annual General Meeting, where we'll delve into the two novels that “bookend” Jane Austen’s career: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. One was her first sale and the other her final completed manuscript, yet both are forever linked as her “Bath novels,” filled with crucial scenes set in the resort city of Bath. Published together in 1818, this pair of novels offers rich opportunities for exploration and comparison.
Our Theme
Get ready for an AGM filled with fresh insights, the company of “clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation,” and plenty of Austenian delights as we explore these two unforgettable works!
Northanger Abbey showcases a young writer with prodigious talent and unusual confidence. Persuasion, Austen's last completed manuscript, is suffused with reflection on times past and opportunities missed, though “not gone for ever.” Each novel is rich on its own, but together they illuminate themes Austen examined throughout her career, from innocence and experience to the shifting social and economic landscape of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Something for Everyone
You can look forward to a program that has something for everyone. Our own “Assembly Rooms” will be the hub of comfort and good company. In addition to a lineup of top speakers, special sessions, workshops, and a Regency Masked Ball on Halloween, the program will include new ways you can share your own insights and creativity—from an Open Mic night to a showcase of Austen-themed artwork and craft projects.
And then there’s the location: the unique environment of Tucson offers a wealth of options for those inclined towards adventure, along with vibrant sunsets, ancient forests of saguaro cactus, mountain views, and the serenity of the Sonoran desert.
A Unique Location
Like Bath in England, Tucson’s origins are linked to the presence of water. Roman relics in Bath have a parallel in petroglyphs in the Sonoran desert, telling the story of the Hohokam people, whose descendants, the Tohono O’odham, still live on their historical homeland. In the late 1600s, the first treatise on the medicinal use of Bath’s waters was published, and an Italian Jesuit founded the Mission San Xavier del Bac in Arizona. In 1775, as visitors to Bath were flocking to the new Royal Crescent and Hot Bath, and as the Austens in Steventon were welcoming Jane into the world, a Spanish governor founded the city of Tucson.
AGM attendees will feel this history all around them, while enjoying the laid-back luxury of the JW Marriott Starr Pass.
