Brontëites: both real and fictional

A couple of Brontëites. The Houston Examiner chats with Jeannie Barber and Patty Wiseman, writing partners on a project called Double Exposure - Don’t Blink.

What books or writers have most influenced each of your lives? [...]
Patty: Of course, I love The Writer’s Journey, but other writers have inspired me through my lifetime. Emily Bronte, Edna Ferber (which really dates me) and Jane Austen fueled my love of reading. A more contemporary author would be Diana Gabaldon and her Outlander Series. I’m a history buff and David McCullough’s John Adams is another favorite. (Teri Thackston)

And MovieWeb comes across a fictional Brontëite when interviewing actor Bruce Campbell, who plays Sam Axe in the TV series Burn Notice.

So I have a question that I think, could you tell us something about Sam that the audience doesn't know, that you know, maybe even the writers don't even know, but something that you know about Sam?
Bruce Campbell: About Mr. Sam Axe? That he reads a lot. He reads fiction, because it takes away from the reality; and that his favorite book is Wuthering Heights. That Sam is a secret romantic. That's all I can reveal. I'll have to kill you if I tell you more. (Brian Gallagher)

The Guardian takes a look at zombies and realises they 'are lumbering back into mainstream movies - and even a Jane Austen novel'.

In White Zombie (1932), Bela Lugosi puts a young American woman into a trance for his own nefarious purposes, while I Walked with a Zombie (1943) transposes Jane Eyre to the West Indies - which just goes to show that 19th-century Eng lit underwent a zombie makeover long before Pride and Prejudice and Zombies came along. (Anne Billson)

The Times reclaims the word 'spinster' by reminding us of many famous women who remained single, such as Emily Brontë. National Geographic Traveler recommends the Wayfarers' tour of Brontë Country. And Cape Cod Today unveils a new production of The Mystery of Irma Vep by the WellFleet Harbor Actors Theater (Wellfleet, MA), with its Brontë 'influences'.

Charlotte Brontë is the star on Brontë-speaking blogs today. Laughter and Its Implications discusses laughter in Jane Eyre. That novel is reviewed by Colony Library Lady and Leisure & Letters while The Black and Visible Things writes about the 1996 film adaptation. Not Quite Write posts about how her book club discussed Charlotte Brontë's so-called lesser-known works. one of which would be The Professor, which is also review - in Polish - by śmietanka literacka. Jillian Dare, by Melanie M. Jeschke, highly and openly influenced by Jane Eyre, is reviewed on Bookworm's Nook.

YouTube user Erodiade2008 reads both in English and Italian Emily Brontë's poem ' Strong I stand though I have borne...'.

Finally, Brontës.nl writes about the visit of Veronica Metz, a member of the band Anois, to Haworth as part of the annual Brontë Society weekend. She will perform some songs next Sunday, June 7.

Categories: Brontëites, Emily Brontë, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Music, Poetry, Theatre, Weirdo, Wuthering Heights