the 2025 Virginia Yerxa Community Read selection, “Pride and Prejudice,” the 1813 novel by Jane Austen.
COLUSA, CA (MPG) – The anticipation of this year’s Virginia Yerxa Community Read is palpable. Colusa County fans of Jane Austen and literary lovers alike are counting down the days to the much-awaited book-in-common celebration on April 5.
This year’s VYCR selection shines a light on the timeless classic, Pride and Prejudice, the most popular of Austen’s novels written more than 200 years ago, said Stacey Costello, a member of the VYCR committee, which selects a book or author annually for the community to read and celebrate.
“People still seem to love Jane Austen,” Costello said. “We knew we would do her sometime, so why not for her 250th birthday.”
Austen’s tale of sparkling wit, complex relationships, and enduring love continues to captivate readers across generations, 250 years after the beloved author’s birth in 1775.
On March 1, the Colusa County Arts Council kicked off the first of a string of VYCR events inspired by the novel.
Artist Juliann Cheney taught the art of collage to youth and adults in a two-hour class at the Arts Council studio in Colusa.
“Collage is a technique where you glue materials together that maybe normally don’t come together, but then they gel,” Cheney said. “The end results are costumes for the characters of Pride and Prejudice.”
The Family Fun Day at the Arts Council studio brought out two dozen participants working together in collage. The creative and versatile medium also allowed Cheney’s students to explore fictional characters like Elizabeth Bennet, the strong-willed heroine of Austen’s novel, and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, whose proud exterior hides a kind and generous heart.
The 2025 VYCR will include multiple activities centered around Austen’s second novel, written in 1813, to foster a shared literary experience, Costello said. Events include Live Lit performances at the Salmon Bend Art Studio, children’s activities at the Colusa County Library, Book Club Discussion, and a keynote speaker.
Nearly all the activities held the first week in April will be at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, in Colusa.
The local book-in-common project honors the late Virginia Wilson Yerxa, a Colusa icon who pushed for higher reading skills and higher educational goals in the Colusa community for more than 60 years. Past VYCR selections have included many beloved classics, such as The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Copies of Pride and Prejudice can be found at Davison Drug and at the Colusa County Free Library.
Readers are invited to follow the VYCR Facebook and Instagram pages or visit online at www.virginiaread.net for a full schedule of activities.