Joan Austen-Leigh is the great granddaughter of Jane Austen's nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh.  She is the author of Letters from Highbury and Later Days at Highbury, and her many plays have been performed on CBC and in venues in Canada, the United States, Australia, and Britain. Her works are published by Gage and A Room of One's Own Press, as well as by Oxford University Press. With Jack Grey and Henry Burke, Joan Austen-Leigh founded the Jane Austen Society of North America.  For nineteen years, she edited this journal.

Freydis Jane Welland is creator of Life in the Country, with Quotations by Jane Austen and Silhouettes by her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh (British Library, 2008) and editor of The British Library Jane Austen Desk Diary 2010 and The British Library Jane Austen Journal (Frances Lincoln, 2009). An Honorary Life Member of JASNA, Freydis is the eldest daughter of Joan Austen-Leigh, JASNA co-founder and creator of Persuasions.