Janeite Spotlight: Introducing Delicia Johnson
- Sarah Hurley
- Aug 6
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 7
Hello, dear readers, and welcome back to the Janeite Spotlight project! As many of you know, this article series is dedicated to showcasing and connecting Austen fans around the globe, without whom Jane Austen’s legacy might have disappeared in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Before the project concludes with Pt. 2 of Caroline Jane Knight’s Janeite Spotlight next week, we’ve got one last remarkable individual to introduce: JASP’s very own blog coordinator and social media manager Delicia Johnson.
If you follow the Jane Austen Summer Program on Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Bluesky, or LinkedIn, chances are that you’re familiar with Delicia Johnson’s work—even if you’ve never seen her face. Delicia is JASP’s resident blog coordinator and social media aficionado, managing content creation and overseeing much of the organization’s online presence. Having originally joined JASP as a member of the blogging team in January of 2023, she was finally able to attend her first symposium in-person this year, where she co-led JASP 2025: Sensibility and Domesticity’s Whitwell Discussion Group with Anna Neill.
However, Delicia’s journey with Jane Austen wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows. She first discovered Austen’s novels through a college prep course between her sophomore and junior years of high school. Having been assigned to read and write an essay on a classic novel of her choice, Delicia remembers browsing the shelves of her local library in search of the perfect book, where the classics were housed in their own separate section. She finally settled on Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which she thought seemed interesting.
“But I must confess,” Delicia says, “that [after reading Pride and Prejudice] I did not become a fan or feel compelled to read the rest of [Austen's] novels. I don’t even think I knew she wrote five other books. Given my love for Austen now, I’m very ashamed to admit this.”
However, about ten years later, Delicia discovered a love for British comedies when her local PBS station began airing reruns of As Time Goes By, Are You Being Served?, and Keeping Up Appearances, among other programs. She quickly “became an Anglophile” and gleefully “started devouring any- and everything English—from listening to The Beatles to becoming a habitual tea-drinker.” Her love for British comedies eventually led to an interest in period dramas, including the then-global phenomenon Downton Abbey. Eager for more historical romance, Delicia borrowed film adaptations of Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Pride and Prejudice (2005) from the library, and this time she fell in love. Soon, she reread Pride and Prejudice, which she found much more enjoyable upon her second perusal. After devouring the rest of Austen’s novels in rapid succession, she moved on to biographies, documentaries, other adaptations of her work, and related media.
While Delicia describes herself as “more of a traditionalist” when it comes to Austen adaptations, she does enjoy Clueless (1995) and Stephanie Barron’s cozy Jane Austen Mysteries series. She is a staunch defender of film and television adaptations, without which she might never have taken a second look at Austen’s novels. Her favorite is Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility (1995), which she particularly loves for Alan Rickman’s portrayal of the romantic yet grief-stricken Colonel Brandon: “The way he looks at Marianne when she performs at Barton Park, his reading of Edmund Spenser… swoon!!! And of course, the ‘Give me an occupation, Miss Dashwood, or I shall run mad!’ line!”
Professionally, Delicia works as a library assistant, a job which she loves and has held for nearly a decade—primarily in public libraries and in youth services. To celebrate Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, Winter Park Library (Delicia’s current workplace) began “A Year of Jane Austen” programming in January of 2025. Despite being a self-described introvert, Delicia herself has delivered a few public lectures: Jane Austen & the Cult of Sensibility, Jane Austen & Georgian Theatre, Jane Austen and the City of Bath, and Female Education in Jane Austen’s Era. Her upcoming lectures include Jane Austen & Romanticism, Austen and the Gothic Novel, and a seminar on Austen’s juvenilia.
When it comes to preserving Austen’s cultural resonance, Delicia is a strong supporter of public humanities programs and initiatives. Innovative digital projects like Jane Austen’s Desk, as well as Jane Austen & Co.’s free online lectures and the JASP symposium’s small-group discussions, make scholarly research easily accessible to the public. JASP’s blog and social media pages further engage general audiences, demonstrating to readers who might be intimidated by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century prose that Austen’s literature is still relevant, relatable, and fun today.
Given her introverted nature, it is perhaps no surprise that Delicia resonates most with characters like Fanny Price, Elinor Dashwood, and Anne Elliot, Austen’s quieter heroines who are often overlooked in favor of flashier characters like Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse. But despite her general aversion to social situations, Delicia is the proud owner of several t-shirts in different colors that read, “Introverted but willing to discuss Jane Austen,” which she dons as often as possible. Those who see her wearing the shirts often do ask questions about Austen, at which time Delicia is happy to deliver the “elevator pitch” she has devised encouraging them to give one of the novels a try.
“Being in the company of Austen fans and those who are open to learning more about her life, her works, and the time period in which she lived energizes me,” Delicia says. “It’s an immense responsibility and privilege to work in continuing her legacy.”
Excerpted from email correspondence with Delicia Johnson, July 26, 2025.
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