A House for Jane

The University of Sheffield and the Off the Shelf Festival of Words are proud to announce a special literary commission celebrating one of the most significant milestones in English literature. To mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, acclaimed local poet and novelist Helen Mort has penned a bespoke new work titled 'A House for Jane'.

The poem acts as a lyrical bridge between the Regency era and contemporary South Yorkshire, exploring Austen’s enduring legacy through a modern Sheffield lens.

Building a Conversation Between Past and Present

In 'A House for Jane', Mort utilizes the structure of the "stanza-as-room" to construct a series of imaginary spaces for Austen. The work delves into the timeless themes of social navigation and domesticity, while posing vital questions for the modern day:

How do women create within cultural climates that may subtly oppose them?
What resources do women truly need to remain creative?
What can we build together in a conversation between generations?

By connecting Austen’s 18th-century world with our own, Mort examines the "homes" that both characters and readers continue to inhabit centuries later.

About the Author: Helen Mort

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, Helen Mort is one of the region’s most distinguished literary voices. Based in Sheffield, her work is deeply rooted in an evocative sense of place and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Her celebrated portfolio includes:

Poetry: Division Street, No Map Could Show Them, and The Illustrated Woman (shortlisted for the Forward Prize).
Prose: The novel Black Car Burning and the short story collection Exire.
Non-Fiction: The critically acclaimed A Line Above The Sky, featured as a "book to watch" by The Guardian and the Evening Standard.

A regular voice on BBC Radio, Mort has been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Costa Prize, and was the winner of the Fenton Aldeburgh Prize.