Charlotte Brontë, the pioneer

The Telegraph & Argus presents some of the participants of the 35th Ilkey Literary Festival next October (3 to 19):

Biographies feature strongly, with a range of authors and subjects including the Brontes. Charlotte Bronte biographer Lyndall Gordon will talk about her life and work and journalist Justine Picardie presents her novel about Daphne Du Maurier’s obsession with the literary family. (Emma Clayton)

The Old Registry B&B in Haworth is mentioned in The Times which also uses Gordon Brown's Heathcliffgate:

After bizarrely comparing himself with Heathcliff, Gordon Brown might like to learn more about the Brontë sisters and their novels. You can do the same and wander the Yorkshire moors while staying at the Old Registry near their home in Haworth. A double en suite room for two costs a total of £180 for three nights from July 24 with bookdirectrooms.com. Other offers include a family room for four at the Shaven Crown hotel in the Cotswolds for £170 for three nights from July 27. 0845 1211523 (Tony Dawe)

The Brontë Society itself uses the Heathcliffgate in the publicity of the temporary display of the Gondal Poems notebook and Branwell's portrait of Emily at the Brontë Parsonage Museum:

Gordon Brown may think he’s Heathcliff but the Brontë Parsonage has just taken receipt of a genuine Emily Brontë from the National Portrait Gallery. (Read the rest of the press release here)

Rowan Pelling in The Telegraph feels responsible for the incident:

I wonder if I am responsible for Gordon Brown comparing himself to Heathcliff. Five or six years ago, a Scottish newspaper implored me to write a piece extolling Brown's sex appeal.
My mortgage was large and my ingenuity boundless. Thus I extemporised: "Do you mean his brooding Heathcliffean temperament?" And continued for another 400 words.
There was mileage in turning the dour Scot into an unlikely romantic hero, so I included him in an Erotic Review list of the 50 sexiest men alive.
Our line-up included the outrageously handsome artist Harland Miller. Our list of male totty was reprinted in the Evening Standard and when Harland walked into his corner store the shopkeeper said: "Do you want the good news or the bad news?"
As is traditional, he asked for the good tidings first, "Mate, apparently you're one of the 50 sexiest men alive." Then he added: "But here's the really bad news - Gordon Brown ranks higher."

The Independent presents the new play 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (written by Leah Chillery, Ben Ellis, Stacey Gregg, Lucy Kirkwood and Ben Schiffer) at the Bush Theatre (21-26 July). Cathy and Heathcliff appear:

The playwrights have also interspersed several recurring characters into the swiftly moving action, including a couple whose relationship is built on frequent bust-ups and a soft-hearted guy who can't get his words out – as well as the redacted break-up scenes of some famous lovers from the annals of history – from Cathy and Heathcliff ("He's just got a bit more money than you. Nice house. Other side of the moor...") to Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir ("the one theeng I am certain of is that NATHING eez certain, Simone. Nat even LAV.") (Alice Jones)

Trashionista interviews Janelle Brown, author of All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, and a Brontëite:

Your favourite chick-lit book? I'm never sure how to define chick-lit t-- nor am I really crazy about that term. But if you go by the general guiding principle of a book about women, written by a woman, with romance at its center, then I'd have to say Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. Bronte was the pioneer of fiction about women, and she certainly captured the torments of love.

We are not really crazy either about putting Jane Eyre and chick-lit in the same pack. But we understand the point.

Pop Syndicate reviews the BBC 2007 film Daphne: the Secret Love Life of Daphne du Maurier. Still with Daphne, doveygreyreader talks about her recent Looking for Daphne event at the Dartington Hall Festival with Justine Picardie, author of the novel Daphne. Litlaur: Books as a Basis reviews The Professor. Asociación Libre compares Jane Eyre 1996 and Jane Eyre 1997 (in Spanish). Fan d'Orgueil & Préjugé (and here) compares Jane Eyre 2006 and Pride & Prejudice 2005 (in French).

Categories: Books, Brontëites, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Talks, Theatre, The Professor, Wuthering Heights