No Brontës at childbirth

The Guardian talks about new compilations of mummy/daddylit. Not the Brontës' favourite genre:

And yet in some ways, the more traditionally literary New Life is more historically shocking still. There is Dickens, sharing dad-time with Paul Dombey; there is Tolstoy, sitting in on Kitty's childbed. Why, though, are there no Brontë sisters or Jane Austen? Why is George Eliot barely represented, why is Virginia Woolf's fiction only there with Flush, her novelty biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's dog? The answer is obvious when you think about it - these writers never wrote much about childbirth because they didn't know a lot about it, not having ever had children themselves. (Jenny Turner)

Nevertheless, Anne Brontë's Agnes Grey says one or two things about what can be considered bad parenting habits.

An alert from the Lakeland Public Library (Florida) for today and tomorrow:

"Books Sandwiched In" meets 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Main Library, and 12:30
p.m. Wednesday at the Larry R. Jackson Branch Library. This week, come discuss
"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte. (The Lakeland Ledger)

A couple of theatrical news items. In Philadelphia, Broadway World informs:

The Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia presented a Special Recognition Award to Deen Kogan, and posthumously, to her husband Jay Kogan, at an annual Membership Meeting and press conference announcing the nominations for the 2009 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre. The Kogans were spotlighted this year in honor of the 50th anniversary season of Society Hill Playhouse, which they founded. (...)
During its forty-nine year history, Society Hill Playhouse has produced hundreds of area premieres on its Main Stage (from Brecht/Weill's Threepenny Opera in 1962 to Jean Genet's The Blacks in 1965 to Brian Friels' Volunteers in 1978 and Freedom of the City in 1979 to Eduardo Manet's The Day Mary Shelley Met Charlotte Brontë in 1992 to James Sherman's Beau Jest in 1993 to Rachel Wyatt's Crackpot in 1996).

And in Pittsburgh:

The Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre (PICT) will continue this program by streaming live performances of Crime and Punishment in September and Jane Eyre in December. Specific dates for these will be announced shortly. (Andy Propst in TheaterMania)

BBC News asks about famous last lines of novels and Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are quoted by their readers, Scrub-a-Dub-tub interviews author Fiona Ingram:

On your Authors Den page, you describe yourself as a lifelong bookworm. What kind of books did you like to read as a child? What do you read now?
Fiona: (...) University English courses pointed me toward more classics (Austen, Eliot, Bronte sisters, Dickens. etc.) which I also read over and over.

Klaus Rothstein reviews this Danish edition of Wuthering Heights, ...&&Hawkes Harbour is reading Syrie James's The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë, Osborn Originals has read and love Jane Eyre, Laura's Reviews has chosen Charlotte as her Favourite Victorian Author, New Moon Movie insists on the Wuthering Heights editions with Twilight-inspired covers, Barney's Book Blog reviews Jennifer Vandever's The Brontë Project. Flickr user SophieLauren<3 has uploaded several pieces inspired by Wuthering Heights

Categories: Alert, Books, Brontëites, Jane Eyre, Theatre, Wuthering Heights