Brontë Weekend in Brussels

As we reported, the Brussels Brontë Group is organizing a Brontë Weekend in Brussels with several interesting activities:

Friday 18 April to Sunday 20 April 2008

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME
This programme may be subject to change
All events are open to non-members.

Friday 18 April

19.00: A BRONTË EVENING led by Robert Barnard in Waterstone's bookshop, Bvd. Adolphe Maxlaan 71-75, 1000 Brussels:

We have invited a group of writers on the Brontës to meet you in Waterstone's and share their enthusiasm with you. Why are the Brontës still so popular today all over the world? How important was Charlotte Brontë's time in Brussels for her life and work? What does the Brontë Society do? This is your opportunity to ask a group of experts these and any other questions you would like to hear discussed.

There will also be a display of Brontë-related books.

There will be an introductory talk by Robert Barnard, former Chairman of the Brontë Society, who will be one of the speakers at the Brontë Conference on Saturday (see details below).
He will be joined by the following writers:

Eric Ruijssenaars, author of Charlotte Brontë's Promised Land: the Pensionnat Heger and other Brontë places in Brussels and The Pensionnat Revisited. Also present will be Selina Busch who illustrated and helped research his books.

Derek Blyth, the Brussels-based author of Brussels for Pleasure (a book of walks including a Brontë walk), the Blue Guide to Belgium and numerous other guide books. Derek devises and leads Brontë walks in Brussels.

Maureen Peeck O'Toole, author of Aspects of lyric in the poetry of Emily Brontë. Maureen, who now lives in the Netherlands, grew up in Yorkshire and is a long-standing member of the Brontë Society.

There is no charge for this event and no need to reserve - just turn up on the day.

Contact person: Helen MacEwan ( helen.macewan@ec.europa.eu).

Saturday 19 April

10.00 to 12.30 and 14.00 to 16.30: THE BRONTË SISTERS IN BRUSSELS. Conference organised by the public library Bibliothèque des Riches Claires, 24 rue des Riches Claires, 1000 Brussels, with assistance from the Brussels Brontë Group.

From 10-29 April there will also be an exhibition of pictures and photos of Brussels from the period of the Brontës' stay in the city. It will be open from 13.00 to 17.30 Monday-Friday and from 10.00 to 12.00 on Saturdays (on view on Saturday 19 April only for those attending the conference).

Some talks will be in English and some in French. Interpreters from the Haute Ecole Francisco Ferrer, Brussels, will provide translations from English into French and from French into English.

The conference will be chaired by Jacques De Decker, Permanent Secretary of the Belgian Royal Academy of French Literature and Language.

Morning:

* Roel Jacobs (Belgium): Bruxelles au 19ème siècle, ville dynamique?
* Robert Barnard (UK): The World the Brontës grew up in (class and social change in early 19th century England).
* Eric Ruijssenaars (the Netherlands): Down the Belliard steps (and what Charlotte found there).

Break for lunch

Afternoon:

* Georges Mayer (Belgium): Les soeurs Brontë: quartier Isabelle, vie universitaire et artistique à Bruxelles.
* Paul Héger (Belgium): Ascendance et descendance de Constantin Héger.
* Pierre Leclercq (Belgium): Du Yorkshire à Bruxelles, un voyage culinaire tout en contrastes.

Evening:
19.00: Evening meal. A typical 19th century English meal will be organised by the Centre de Gastronomie Historique de Bruxelles. There will be explanatory talks by the researchers Pierre Leclercq and Georges Verly.
Information about the address of the restaurant where this event will take place and bookings: georges.verly@brunette.brucity.be / 0485 637 102

Sunday 20 April

10.00: A guided walk around Brontë places in Brussels .
Contact person: Helen MacEwan ( helen.macewan@ec.europa.eu).

More information on the Brussels Brontë Blog.

EDIT:
The Belgian Radio 1 has reported the event, although they seem to mistake Eric Ruijssenaars for Robert Barnard.

Categories: Alert, Brussels, Talks