Stephanie Meyer seems an ideal candidate to invite to the Brontë Parsonage Museum

After collecting so many Twilight-Brontë connections (this article in the Argentinian La Nación may be the latest installment), it seems that the Brontë Parsonage Museum is considering inviting Stephenie Meyer. We read in The Telegraph & Argus (and Keighley News):
Picture: Andrew McCarthy (Source)

A best-selling author who has inspired French teenage girls to read Wuthering Heights could be getting an invitation to explore the Gothic novel at the Bronte shrine in Haworth.
The popularity of the Emily Bronte classic tale of wild passion on the Yorkshire moors is a by-product of the vampire novels of American author, Stephanie Meyer.
She makes references to the book in her novel Eclipse and the upshot is that French 13 to 16-year-olds – her biggest readership – are wanting to know more about the work of the Haworth sisters.
And the link is by no means far-fetched, says Bronte Parsonage Museum director Andrew McCarthy.
He said: “Heathcliff is actually referred to as a vampire in the book. And Wuthering Heights is itself a very gothic novel.
“The Brontes were influenced by the Gothic and their work has gone on to influence others like Stephanie Meyer.
“We have been considering inviting a panel to explore the Gothic influence on the Brontes and more modern influences and Stephanie Meyer seems an ideal candidate to invite.
“It’s fantastic that her work has led to this interest from French teenagers.
“It links to our work in developing the contemporary arts programme in which we explore how the Brontes have influenced and continue to influence modern writers.”
Sales in France of Wuthering Heights – Les Hauts de Hurlevent – were up by half last year.
And in the first two months of this year, more copies have been sold than in the whole of last year, said the French publisher of the book, Le Livre de Poche.
In Britain, however, there has been no such trend.
According to Penguin, Wuthering Heights is so much part of British culture that it is not such a discovery for Meyer’s readers.
Stephanie Meyer is 35 and lives in Arizona. Her first novel, Twilight, about a girl who falls for a vampire, has now developed into a trilogy. A film, Twilight, based on her work, has recently been made into a movie.
Among the books she says have influenced her are Wuthering Heights and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. (Clive White)

The Times invites its readers to visit Bradford and even go a little farther:

For those who wish to travel farther afield Haworth, with all its Brontë connections, is close by - and there are miles and miles of those moors for walkers. (Tom Chesshyre)

The Weekender (South Africa) talks about the new tour of the rock band Dear Reader (formerly known as Harris Tweed, more information in this previous post):

FACED with a lawyer’s letter from the clothing company whose name they had taken on, the band Harris Tweed changed its moniker to Dear Reader. It has used it to take a giant leap forward.
Cherilyn Macneil, Darryl Torr and Michael Wright make up Dear Reader. In their three-year previous incarnation the band toured the country with its quirky stage shows, supported the likes of Argentinean guitarist Jose Gonzalez and notched up a South African Music Award.
The band looked to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre for inspiration for a new name and liked the way she used the phrase ‘dear reader’ to connect with her audience.
“It happened to coincide with a change in the music we were making, and we were heading towards making a record that was a little different,” says Macneil. “We saw it as a fresh start.” (Nadia Neophytou)

Risky Regencies devotes today's post to the Brontës:

A few days ago, I took a quiz on Facebook called "What kind of writer are you?" I got the result--Jane Austen. Woo-hoo! What romance writer wouldn't love that? But then I started wondering if, in real writing life, I might owe more stylistically to the Brontes. I do love the Dramatic Moment, the Big Reveal, the whole wandering on the moors shouting things like "How can I live without my love?" type stuff.
Maybe it's because Jane Eyre was the first "classic" I ever read (except for things like Anne of Green Gables and Little Women), and wow did I love it. I've been a sucker for 19th century England (and moor-wandering) ever since. I adore the Brontes, both their books and their oddball family story. (Amanda McCabe)

Eric Ruijssenaars from the Brussels Brontë Blog has uploaded a new picture of the Quartier Isabelle. Well... actually not exactly of the Quartier Isabelle as the Brontës knew it. Check the post for more details.

The blog of Tamasha's Wuthering Heights has a new video of the dress rehearsal at Oldham Coliseum Theatre:

Filmed during the dress rehearsal at Oldham Coliseum Theatre, Digital Journalism students at University of Huddersfield have created this great video featuring “The Sun Will Rise” and an interview with director Kristine Landon-Smith. Many thanks to the students and to Ella at the Coliseum for this one.
Director and Co-Founder of Tamasha talks about the ground breaking Bollywood version of Wuthering Heights. Featuring Pushpinder Chani and Youkti Patel performing The Sun Will Rise, the main theme from Wuthering Heights.

An alert from the Instituto Cervantes in Madrid, Spain. A reading of poems written by women as a part of the Ellas Crean Festival includes poems by Emily Brontë. More information here.

Página 12 reviews the Argentinian edition of Joyce Carol Oates's The Gravedigger's Daughter and compares her style to the Brontës':

Y –a no confundirse– como todas las anteriores es, también y antes que nada, una Novela Joyce Carol Oates marcada a fuego y a hielo por lo que acaso sean sus rasgos más reconocibles: una cierta compulsión gótica-guiñol, un culto al novelón sensacionalista del siglo XIX, una fiebre mórbida y desesperada, un viento que no cesa y una necesidad de crear hembras más fatalistas que fatales convirtiéndola en una especie de descendiente mutante de las hermanas Brontë o en pariente bizarro de ese otro idiota savant de sus letras nacionales: Theodore Dreiser. (Rodrigo Fresán) (Google translation)

The German edition of Rolling Stone has an article about the singer Soap&Skin. It's not the first time that the Brontës are quoted describing her music:

Doch es ist wohl eher die Tatsache, dass die Gefühlswelten von Teenagern auch heute noch dem größenwahnsinnigen Sturm und Drang ähneln, den man schon bei Goethes "Werther" findet und auf den Sturm umtosten "Wuthering Heights" von Emily Bronté. Vielleicht sollten wir einfach mal hinabsteigen in den Keller des Unterbewussten. (Google translation)

Finally, Scena (Czech Republic) publishes more information the upcoming premiere of Jana Eyrová adapted by Věra Mašková and directed by Peter Gábor at the Divadlo ABC in Prague (April 18):

Slavná viktoriánská novela Charlotty Brontëové vypráví pět kapitol ze života Jany – její dětství v Gatesheadu, kde je tyranizována svou tetou, nesnadná léta v Lowoodské škole, její první zkušenost guvernantky na zámku Thornfield, kde se seznamuje s mužem svého srdce – záhadným Edwardem Rochesterem, pobyt v rodině faráře Johna Riverse a konečně happy-end, kdy se znovu setkává s milovaným mužem. Román je částečně autobiografický. Už ve své době si získal velkou oblibu, a neztratil ji ani v dalších staletích.
„Jana Eyrová je ale také příběhem o tom, že každý náš skutek má své důsledky, a že všechny dlouhé stíny našich hříchů padají na naše životy ve chvílích, kdy to nejméně čekáme“, říká autorka scénáře, dramaturgyně Věra Mašková a dodává: „Před vlastní vinou, před vlastním špatným svědomím se nemůžeme schovat, život ve lži nám jednoho dne zhořkne, a tento den nás přinutí zaplatit. Ale Jana Eyrová je i příběhem o tom, že přijmeme-li svoje břemeno, a pokusíme se odčinit svou vinu, máme naději na milosrdný soud.“
A čím podle představitelky titulní role Evellyn Pacolákové nejvíc přitahuje příběh Jany Eyrové? „Jednak je to samozřejmě působivý příběh lásky, který se tu odehrává. Ale hodně přitahuje i samotná postava Jany Eyrové – její osobní svoboda, její hledání. V době, kdy se příběh odehrává, byla společnost výrazně rozdělená, byly tu velké kastovní rozdíly mezi vládnoucí vrstvou a služebnictvem. Jana, která pocházela z nedobrých poměrů, odmítá tyto rozdíly brát v úvahu. A z toho vlastně vzniká její – možná nevědomá – vzpoura a její cesta ke svobodě.“
Jevištní adaptace Jany Eyrové v Divadle ABC nabídne divákům pohled očima Janiných vzpomínek, což dává možnost nerealistického ztvárnění příběhu, v němž se akcentuje, stejně jako ve vzpomínkách určitý výrazný detail. Hrají Evellyn Pacoláková, Hynek Čermák, Květa Fialová, Roxana Stirská nebo Sabina Rojková, Lukáš Jurek, Stanislava Jachnická, Máša Málková nebo Kateřina Vainarová, Petr Klimeš, Zuzana Kajnarová, Vladimír Čech, Jiří Klem, Jana Drbohlavová, Radka Fiedlerová, Veronika Janků, Daniela Choděrová, Viktor Dvořák, Radim Schwab a Diana Šoltýsová. (Google translation)

Categories: Brussels, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Music, Theatre, Wuthering Heights