Felicity Long
Have you heard quite enough about Jane Austen in recent years? No, me neither. Therefore, I was delighted to learn that in 2017 the celebrated English author is a key player in the Year of Literary Heroes promotion by VisitEngland.
The theme, announced at the ExploreGB trade show in Brighton, England, marks the 200th anniversary of Austen's death with a series of events, tours and exhibitions on tap in southern England throughout the year.
Jane Austen 200 activities include tours of her former home in Chawton in Hampshire, now renamed Jane Austen's House Museum. Here unabashed groupies like myself can walk through the rooms where she is said to have penned her greatest stories, including "Pride and Prejudice," "Emma" and "Sense and Sensibility;" listen to lectures; and join guided walks.
Tours can also include the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, a frequent setting in her novels; Winchester Cathedral, where she was buried; and there are musical and dance performances throughout Hampshire.
Vying with Austen for the top spot among English literary heroes is J.K. Rowling. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," the first book in the "Harry Potter" series. To celebrate the occasion, there will be a "Harry Potter" exhibition at the British Library running from Oct. 20 to Feb. 28, 2018. Hint: The histories of dragons and magic will feature prominently.
There will also be a "Harry Potter" film concert series in May that will pair film screenings with a live orchestra performing the score created by John Williams at locations around the U.K.
For mystery fans, 2017 also marks the 125th anniversary of the publication of the first Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle. Activities include visits to the famous detective's haunts in London, including Baker Street, the Sherlock Holmes Museum and the Sherlock Holmes Pub, as well as organized tours based around the BBC's "Holmes" series.
In case you think that these kinds of tours are too special interest for mainstream travelers, it's interesting to note that more than half of respondents to a recent VisitEngland survey said they would visit a literary attraction while on vacation, and that, in fact, 24% of visitors did so on their last U.K. visit.
Just as interesting is that while most of these visits took place in London at 21%, nearly as many at 20% fanned out to Yorkshire/Humberside and 18% went to the northwest U.K.
One takeaway from this? To conflate several cliches at once, reports of the death of literature are greatly exaggerated. And we couldn't be happier.