Brussels, Halifax, London and Scarborough

Alerts from Brussels, Halifax and Scarborough:

16-17 April 2016: Annual Brontë Weekend
Saturday 16 April 2016
Room P61, Université Saint-Louis, Rue du Marais 119, 1000 Brussels
11.00: Juliet Barker, historian and author of the definitive Brontë biography The Brontës (1994), will talk about the family and their background - and the things Gaskell left out of her Life of Charlotte Brontë.

Salle du Foyer, Auderghem Cultural Centre, Boulevard du Souverain 183, 1160 Auderghem
19.00: An evening with Charlotte Brontë. An evening of readings from Charlotte Brontë’s writings by members of the Brussels Shakespeare Society, directed by Tracie Ryan.

Sunday 17 April 2016
10.00: Guided walk around Brontë places in Brussels in the Place Royale area. The walk takes about 2 hours.

A new exhibition in Halifax:

Splendid Shreds of Silk & Satin: A Celebration of Charlotte Brontë in Quilts 
16 Apr 2016 (All day) to 11 Jun 2016 (All day)
Location:  Bankfield Museum, Halifax

Charlotte Brontë and her sisters were keen sewers and to celebrate 200 years since her birth on 21 April 1816, in conjunction with the Quilters Guild of the British Isles and the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Howarth, novelist Tracy Chevalier is presenting an exhibition of quilts inspired by Charlotte.
The exhibition features entries for the Brontë Quilt Challenge sponsored by the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles and the Brontë Society. The Challenge called for small quilts reflecting this quote from Jane Eyre: “A certain little drawer, full of splendid shreds of silk and satin.”
The exhibition includes a quilt made by Charlotte and her sisters and a modern interpretation by members of the Totley Brook Quilters from Sheffield, and a selection of historic quilts from Bankfield Museum’s collection.

In London, at the Victoria & Albert Museum:

Charlotte, Emily and Anne, a play by Douglas Verrall
Sunday 17 April 2016, 15.00-16.20
The Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre
Free, drop-in
Join us for a fully staged reading of Douglas Verrall’s moving play on the Brontës, performed by an ensemble of five women. Presented by the Live Literature Company, to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Charlotte Bronte's birth on 21 April.  Directed by Valerie Doulton. Cast includes Lisa Eichhorn, Wendy Morgan, Louise Bangay, Robin Miller, Maeve O'Sullivan
This event is part of the V&A Performance Festival

And at the Scarborough Book Festival:

Books by the Beach | Scarborough Book Festival
13-17 April 2016
Sat 16 April
Tracy Chevalier & Claire Harman
The World Of Charlotte Brontë
Sponsored by The Royal Literary Fund
TIME 10am
Venue Scarborough Library Concert Hall

Bestselling novelist Tracy Chevalier has a lifetime love of Charlotte's work and is curator
of the 2016 celebratory exhibitions at Haworth Parsonage. Tracy also edited Reader I Married Him, an anthology by today's finest women writers, inspired by Jane Eyre.Claire Harman is a renowned biographer. Her latest book is Charlotte Bronte: A Life. Claire will discuss Charlotte’s literary reputation and how she coped with the pressures of London and the famous literary figures of the day.