WitFest: A Day with Witty Women

Join us for chuckles at Chawton as we celebrate witty women from the 18th-century to today in the first of our WitFest series. Discover Jane Austen the joker, have laughter in the Library and enjoy an afternoon of amusement complete with a very special tour with a VIP ghost...

The Day's Programme

10-11am: Jane Austen, the Joker: Comedy Writing from the Queen of Quips  

An appreciation of the humour in Austen's writing, led by Deputy Director Dr Kim Simpson - followed by the Tickled Tour of the Library to meet our other funny female writers.

11.30am-12.15pm: Tales from the Ha-ha: Confessions of a Chief Executive 

What is it really like to run Chawton House? It’s not all serious study and ferocious fundraising: transforming Chawton House over the past 7 years has been a very funny adventure. Find out what really happens when the sheep escape, weddings don’t go as planned and someone falls asleep midway through your tour.    

1-2pm: The Secret Diary of Jane Austen, aged 13¾ 

Hear young Jane's juvenilia - aka funny teenage letters and tales - read aloud. Followed by

'Dear Cassandra...' Writing Competition Launch 

Can you write a funny, fake burnt letter ‘from’ Jane Austen? What DID the witty author write in those letters that convinced her sister Cassandra that she had to destroy them after Jane's death? Let your funny bone loose and write a letter that will make the judges laugh out loud. Witty winners will see their letters published in Spring 2027.

3.30-4.30pm: Literary Tittery: An Afternoon Amusement  

21st-century writers Jane James and Sharon Wright entertain with a series of comic monologues from ladies of letters, both real and imaginary.

5-6pm: Ghost Guide! 

Take a tongue-in-cheek house tour with the fabulous, formidable 18th-century female Squire of Chawton House - Elizabeth Martin Knight.

Tickets: £25pp (includes House & Garden entry, tea/coffee on arrival & a pre-Ghost Guide drink

About the Speakers

Jane James has written extensively for her friend Sunny Ormonde (Lilian Bellamy in The Archers), including the play Wigs, Wideboys and the Ruler of the World at the Attic Theatre, London, and sketches for Sunny’s touring shows Wicked Women and An Evening With...  Jane also co-hosts their podcast One Stiletto in The Grave.

Journalist and author Sharon Wright's comedy take on life, literature and women's history features in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including Woman & Home, The Times and The Oldie. She writes comedy plays, including Fly Me! Mrs Sage and the Mile High Club, performed at Chawton in 2025. She is a Brontë expert - so expect a bit of comedy clash of the bonnets.

Chief Executive Katie Childs keeps Chawton House running against the combined forces of history, entropy and the budget.

Deputy Director Kim Simpson researches dead women, reads their private correspondence and occasionally puts their belongings in glass cases.

In aid of:
THE UNFUNNY FUND You have to laugh or you’d cry… about potholes, dead trees, peculiar plumbing, weird wiring, floods in the ha-ha, you name it. And that's before we try to buy literary treasures. We all know household bills are no joke. So WitFest is in aid of the unending, unfunny costs of keeping dear Chawton House going!

This event is the first in a continuing series where we celebrate witty women, from the 18^th century to the present day. The next event features a specially-written play about Harriet Martineau & Charlotte Brontë, with more events in the New Year.