Jane and the Model

Reading Jane Eyre is fashionable. Daily Mail highlights a series of pictures of the Australian model Jessica Hart at the Dolce & Gabbana Winter 2013 Luncheon And Fashion Presentation in New York:

Displaying her knack for classic literature, the 27-year-old was snapped posing with a copy fn the novel Jane Eyre while standing in front of a crisp home landscape and green pasture. (Rachel Levy)

Picture Credits: Photographer: Joe Schildhorn /BFAnyc.com

More reviews of Bridge Christie's successful Edinburgh Fringe show, A Bic for Her:

Her stand-up show, A Bic for Her, which she performs in a T-shirt saying “Deeds not Words”, is a warm, witty, laugh-out-loud hour about women's rights which roams from sexist sports commentators to Bic's invention of a pretty, easy-to-grip pen for women (“perhaps that's why the Brontës were so bad at writing,” she ponders)(...)
It is not just feminists who can appreciate the absurdity of Bic bringing out a range of pretty pens "for women" – something Christie illustrates with a playlet imagining how much better the Brontës might have been if their quills had not been so drab. A winningly warm performer.. (Alice Jones in The Independent)

The Times of India begins an article about female writers writing as men with the Brontës, of course:

"We had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice".
The Brontë sisters believed that people were likely to read books written by male authors rather than female ones and therefore chose to publish as the Bell brothers. But this was way back in the 19th century, when anything male was preferred over anything female. (Archita Bisht)

The Telegraph-Calcutta talks about the increase in cultural and economical Anglo-Chinese exchanges:

Brecht is (or was) popular with Calcutta theatregoers. Apparently, Brontë is Beijing’s favourite. But talk of coal to Newcastle, it seemed the height of chutzpah for the Shanghai Ballet to present Jane Eyre in London until the weightless grace of the Chinese dancers at Wednesday’s spectacular opening night at the Coliseum convinced us this was value added to English arts. (Sunanda K. Datta-Ray)

FemaleFirst interviews the author Claire Merchant:

Your studies meant that you read a lot, so who are your favourites?
It’s so tough to pick favourites because when I start to list them, I feel like there are too many to choose from! I really loved ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ growing up; I read it in high school then studied it again in university. My other favourites are Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’, The Harry Potter series, the Twilight books, The Hunger Games trilogy; I love J.M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’ and Brontë’s ‘Jane Eyre’. (Interview by Lucy Walton)

The Globe and Mail talks with another writer, Jane Gardam:

Then a public library opened in the town and I devoured everything and demanded more. But I don’t think anything “influenced” my own stories. Their content came from outside somewhere and I was conceitedly fierce about keeping my own style. I discovered Mrs. Gaskell at 11 and still like her better than Austen or the Brontës. (Jared Bland)

Movies Online quotes Stephenie Meyer in the promotion of Austenland saying:

Q: For Stephenie, you’re a bit of an Anglophile yourself. How did Jane Austen inspire you as a writer and who were your other inspirations?
Meyer: I hesitate to name Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë and all of the greats, because then people might think I’m denigrating their names a bit. But I did love them and I do think they influenced me. I loved reading because of them.

Seacost Online discusses future projects of Danielle Johnson as artistic director of ACT ONE:

Howard is already talking to Voss Nugent about possible future projects, discussing works on her "bucket list." There's Chekhov and anything Henrik Ibsen — maybe one of his lesser-known plays. She's considering "On the Verge," and of course she'd like to take on a musical, perhaps "Jane Eyre." (Jeanné McCartin)

Lauren Daley in SouthCoast Today has discovered audiobooks:

One night, a few months ago, I lay in bed with "Jane Eyre," by Charlotte Brontë. I was at an especially good part, but my lids were drooping.
"I wish someone could just read this to me," I thought, rubbing my eyes.
Then I got an idea.
I reached for my phone and looked under the App Store for audiobooks.
Not only did I find someone to read me "Jane Eyre" that night, but I went on to audio-read "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville, "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen and "War and Peace" by Leo (sic) Tolstoy.

In the Irish Examiner, the Premier League and Jane Eyre - impossible in the same article? Not really:

And while there’s no doubt that an eventual fixture between Hull and Stoke is a clear and present danger, there is a strong possibility it won’t be televised live.
And even if it is, there is always the option of drawing inspiration from Jane Eyre, when she decided; “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
No matter how big or superficial it gets, we can always freestyle with that off button. (Larry Ryan)

Film School Rejects gives voice to Phil Lord and Chris Miller, creators of the one-season cult series Clone High and explores what could have done with the characters if the series would have not been canceled:

Miller: We like to give ourselves problems to solve. I’m trying to think off the top of my head how we would handle it, and it makes me want to introduce some sort of third female into the mix to really stir it up. Like Charlotte Brontë comes in… (Interview by Scott Beggs)

The Secret Victorianist has an interesting post on Villette; Noche de Palabras (in Spanish)and Un Ponte tra Cielo e Terra (in Italian) review Wuthering Heights; The Educators Room talks about Jane Eyre and education; Club de Lectura 2.0 (in Spanish) continues posting about the novel;  For Your Leisure @ Vaughan Public Libraries posts about Agnes Grey; Knižní vesmír (in Czech) talks about different Jane Eyre film and TV adaptations; On Dear Author's First Page Saturday we found the first page of  The Brontë Curse by Jane Litte.