Encounters with Jane Austen

“Encounters with Jane Austen is a delightful compendium of reactions–or perhaps we should call them love notes–from many creative writers and other thoughtful interpreters who share their appreciation for Austen. Reading Encounters is like discussing Austen with your best friends if your friends group were to include the likes of Julia Quinn and Natalie Jenner among many other talented authors. Insightful, yet “light and bright and sparkling,” this book offers a wonderful way to celebrate the many facets of Austen’s genius and to enjoy an excellent introduction to her life and impact prepared by scholar Jennie Batchelor.“–Mary Mintz, Librarian Emeritus, American University, Washington

Cheryl created the award-winning publishing company Aurora Metro Books in 1980, which is well-known for its diverse and inclusive range of titles with works in translation from over 20 languages. The press was a finalist for Small Press of the Year in 2025, British Book Awards.

As an editor, Cheryl has edited over 100 books. Her work has won the Pandora Prize, the Raymond Williams/Arts Council Publishing Prize, a Special Jury Prize for Peace, Best Innovative & Best Seasonal Foodbook from Gourmand World Cookbooks, and was a finalist for the People’s Book Prize. The press was also a finalist for the IPG National Diversity Awards in 2019 and 2020 and Cheryl was a finalist for the ITV National Diversity Awards in 2019 and 2022.

An award-winning playwright, she has also had writing published in The Guardian, the Chicago Tribune, Culture Trip, Riviera News and more.

As a producer/director, her feature documentary film Rock ‘n’ Roll Island won several awards at film festivals and was broadcast on BBC4 in 2020, garnering a Sunday Times Critics’ Choice and Radio Times Pick of the Week.

Cheryl is perhaps best-known for her successful 5-year campaign to erect a full-size bronze statue of Virginia Woolf which was unveiled in November 2022 on Richmond riverside and has proven a popular attraction.

She co-owns the independent bookshop Books on the Rise in Richmond, which offers weekly literary, music and arts events and hosts Feminist Book Fortnight.

Jennie is Head and Professor of English at the University of York. She previously worked at the University of Kent for nearly twenty years where she co-directed the Centre for Studies in the Long Eighteenth Century. Prior to that, she was the inaugural Postdoctoral Fellow in Women’s Writing (1660-1830) at Chawton House Library and the University of Southampton.

Jennie has a career-long commitment to public engagement in research, and in addition to giving numerous keynote lectures internationally, is regularly interviewed about her research on numerous podcasts, BBC radio and television and has written for various magazines from The Quilter to Who Do You Think You Are Magazine.

In the last five years, Jennie has also become involved in practice-based research on craft reconstruction and craft and mental health which led to her co-creation, with Alison Larkin, of the popular history-craft book, Jane Austen Embroidery (Pavilion and Dover, 2020).

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