Alongside the Brontë past

Haworth is trying to have more on offer than 'just' the Brontë sights. Here's one interesting, non-Brontë initiative as reported by the Keighley News:

Haworth people will become painters this summer for the village's annual community art event.
Two hundred of them will be asked to paint an aspect of everyday life in Haworth.
The pictures will be fixed to a huge outdoor framework for a fortnight next month.
The installation, a project with the Black Bull pub and the nearby Souk shop, will be illuminated at night.
Everyday Haworth is the brainchild of Haworth artist Chris McCarthy and his wife Sandra.
They last year organised the "Haworth... as we see it" picture wall outside the Main Street pub.
This year they have teamed up with Mel and James from the Black Bull, and Rosie and Glyn Broomhead.
Their group, Haworth People's Art, will organise an annual community-based event involving only local people.
This year 200 canvases and paint sets will be freely distributed around the village.
The subsequent framework will be launched on July 19, with live music during the day and an evening switch-on of the lights.
Chris said the six-strong team wanted to build on the success and goodwill of last year's picture wall.
He said: "This is a free event, organised by and for people who want to give something to the village we love.
"We want to show that alongside the Bronte past, our village is a real place with real people and has so much to offer in the present day."
The group has already received at least £650 of donations towards the cost of Everyday Haworth "Haworth... as we see it" last year attracted both professional artists and complete beginners, with several later taking up painting as a hobby.
Mr McCarthy, of Oak Street, received a Community Champion award from the government for his role in the project.
Mr McCarthy can be contacted via the website http://www.haworthartanddesign.com/. (David Knights)

Do take a look at the official website for further information, and particularly the page which shows last year's works.

But we are afraid that the purpose and the raison d'être of this blog are the Brontës, so let's return to them. The Beacon likes and recommends Jane Eyre 2006:

The best classic film I've seen lately is the latest rendering of Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre". It takes a few liberties with the plot of the book and the characterizations. But if you don't mind that, you'll enjoy the movie very much.

RH Reality Check recommends Justine Picardie's Daphne:

Justine Picardie's Daphne is a hotly-anticipated literary mystery featuring Daphne du Maurier, the author of gothic thriller Rebecca, and DuMaurier's foremothers and inspiration, the very writerly (and very gothic) Bronte family. (Sarah Seltzer)

The Independent has an article on Daoud Hari and connects him to the Brontës once again.

Hari, for example, was the brainbox among his siblings, chosen by his father as the one to be lifted out of the daily village grind and sent to school in the regional capital, El Fasher, where he feasted on Jane Eyre, Treasure Island and Oliver Twist. His horizons duly expanded, he then set off for foreign climes, heading first to Libya, then to Egypt and then – illegally – to Israel, where he was promptly picked up by the immigration police and deported to a Cairo prison. (Claire Soares)

Gwordia writes in French about Jane Eyre and quotes extensively from the novel in French too. And CataRomance brings us another Brontëite, 'superromance author' Elaine Grant:

What authors inspire you?
I grew up on classics like Dickens, London, Dumas. I read DAVID COPPERFIELD, GONE WITH THE WIND, BLACK BEAUTY, WUTHERING HEIGHTS and “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” more times than I can count when I was young. Now I enjoy Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott series, Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, Barry Eisler, Sharyn McCrumb. Also enjoy books by authors I know.

Finally a link to a book club with the best of names: The Brontë Sisters Book Club.

Categories: Brontëites, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Websites