Makeup, Clothes and Jane Eyre

The Guardian explains why teenagers should read classic books:

After about the age of 10, when I unsuccessfully attempted to grapple with a heavy hardback of Wuthering Heights, I had banished all Victorian novels to the back of my book shelf.   It was only two years later, looking for a relaxed, flowing holiday read, that I picked up Pride and Prejudice, and endeavoured to immerse myself in it. I must admit, it was not arduous at all. I was immediately infatuated. And now, reading Jane Eyre for the first time, my love has been rekindled.
These books are, admittedly, not totally devoid of overblown love-swept monologues and endless accounts of rural scenery, but they are certainly not “wishy-washy”, either. I was astounded by the terrific mystery and suspense in Jane Eyre, and the plot twist which had me gripping the edge of my seat with white knuckles. The characters are vivid and various, and in Jane Eyre especially illustrious. They are also strangely accessible, despite their dated existence. Jane was particularly striking, and her character development and understandable thoughts were poignant throughout the book. Following her life, it is hard not to become attached to her. (...)
But it’s not cool to read a massive book, I hear you say. Um, yes it is! If all the modern hipster types can sit on the London Underground reading original Penguin classics, why can’t you? If Tom Hiddlestone can earn a double first in Classics at Cambridge and then go on to play a Marvel villain, why can’t you read a love story and still be a kick-butt cool kid? Last week I spent extortionate amounts of money on makeup and clothes, and I’m still sat here with a Brontë novel!  (EllaClaire)

Erm... ok. Let's talk about other things.

Blacknet presents a very interesting symposium that will take place in April:

IBAR in association with the Bronte Parsonage Museum Haworth Present Lost Children: The Black Atlantic and Northern Britain – An Interdisciplinary Symposium April 30-May 1
The Institute for Black Atlantic Research at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston is proud to announce that it will host a symposium to tie in with the launch of Caryl Phillips new novel The Lost Child, a prequel to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. It will echo the historical context and themes of the work discussing black presences across generations in the North from the 1770s to the present. It will be an interdisciplinary symposium which will bring together historians, visual artists, cultural critics and writers. It will discuss The Lost Child in its widest black Atlantic and Northern British context and highlight links and contexts that enable a variety of other writers and artists including the Brontës to be discussed. This will create dynamic new interpretations of British culture in this rarely heard context of the North and the Black Atlantic. It will include two readings from Caryl Phillips at UCLAN and at the Brontë Parsonage Museum Haworth. The symposium will spend the second afternoon in Haworth and there will be an opportunity to explore Brontë Country with a guided tour from our won Victorian expert Dr.Theresa Saxon.

Meridian Magazine reviews the current Brigham's Theatre production of Jane Eyre. The Musical:

This story, when told properly (as it is here), offers a buffet of emotional experience: it is heartbreaking, warm, chillingly eerie, funny, and ultimately very inspiring. I was pleasantly surprised at how much emphasis was placed on faith in God, something Young confirmed to me was present in the original script (which is why he chose it).
I was hard-pressed to find anything to be critical of here; even an on-stage prop malfunction was handled with grace and humor, without a break in character. (Jonathan Decker)

The Irish Independent makes a passing mention to the latest Wuthering Heights adaptation at The Gate in Dublin:

Adaptations can make for very half-formed portraits of artists' best work, if you catch me. Condensing 300 pages of storytelling into two acts is no joke. The literal approach can result in snappy scene changes and stilted atmospheres (Wuthering Heights in The Gate did not wow critics). (Maggie Armstrong)

The Journal (Ireland) talks about falling in love online:

The biologist will describe love purely from a neurological point of view. The chemistry involved – dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, otherwise known as the ‘feel good hormones’ – that are released in their droves when we fall head over heels for someone.
The romance novelist, on the other hand, will favour the Wuthering Heights depiction of love between Heathcliff and Cathy – an all-consuming obsession, a physical pain. Meanwhile, the psychoanalyst may refer to the declaration of love as a wish to be loved. (Christine Allen)

From time to time we have a Brontë mention in articles about women passing as men. In Madame Noire:

In literary circles the famed Brontë sisters passed themselves off as men by name only. Charlotte, Emily and Anne went by the names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell when they first started writing. It was easier to get published as a man, and men were more respected in literature at the time.
Today, most women don’t go as far as to change their appearance, they most often just change their name like the Brontë sisters to sound more masculine. (Ann Brown)

The OUP Blog interviews Sara Levine, Multimedia Producer:

How did you get started in multimedia production?
I’ve been drawing comics and making short videos since I was a kid. My first big hit was in high school. I wrote, directed, filmed, and edited a parody of Wuthering Heights called “Withering Estates.” I played Heathcliff. No, it’s not on YouTube.

WUWM remembers Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough:

It reminds me of other books like that, such as "Jane Eyre," where you have the journey of a woman, and not all of it's easy and not all of it's pleasant. And it definitely lifts a veil on a life that most of us will never live, so I think that is what makes it an enduring story. (Carrie Feron)