Be there to celebrate

First of all, a reminder that Anne Brontë was born on a day like today in 1820. We are two years away from her own bicentenary.

Recently, The Stage picked last year's Octagon Theatre production of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as one of the best shows in the UK in 2017. The Bolton News is proud of it.

The Octagon Theatre has been recognised for staging one of the best shows in the country.
Its adaptation of the Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in spring last year was named as one of the best shows from around the UK in 2017 by leading specialist entertainments and theatre publication The Stage.
The national recognition comes just days before the theatre brings another Brontë classic — Jane Eyre — to the stage.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was one of just eight shows to be picked from across the country.
Elizabeth Newman, artistic director who directed The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and who is also directing Jane Eyre, said: “We’re thrilled it was picked out as one of The Stage’s top shows of 2017. It was wonderful to direct this passionate play adapted by Deborah McAndrew. She really did capture the essence of Anne Brontë’s novel, which still resonates over 100 years after it was written.
“We had a brilliant cast and I loved to see audiences engaging with the play. I am very excited to be working on another Bronte story this year and am busy in rehearsals for Jane Eyre which opens on Thursday.” (Saiqa Chaudhari)

The Yorkshire Evening Post has published a letter from an enthusiastic life member of the Brontë Society:

In praise of Parsonage Museum
Jean Bull, Addingham.
As a life member of the Brontë Society, I would like to commend those involved at the Parsonage Museum at Haworth, who promote the Brontë family. The bicentenary anniversaries have brought in new audiences because of the vibrancy and creativity of events. April 2016 started with a party in Haworth, items loaned for exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery and the Morgan Library in New York, and a ceremony in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. The society is working hard to reach a wider audiences locally, nationally and globally. Be there to celebrate.

This might just be our first sighting of Valentine's Day this year: Yorkshire Life has put together a list of '10 romantic things to do in Yorkshire'.

A novel idea
Wuthering Heights is, of course, not a real location, but you can visit Top Withens, thought to be the place that inspired Emily Brontë to put pen to paper to recount the bleak romance of Cathy and Heathcliff.
Visit the village of Haworth a great day out and of course, stop by Haworth Parsonage, the Brontë family home.

Libreriamo (Italy) turns to fictional characters for inspiration to face 2018.

Jane Eyre: trascorri un po ‘di tempo con te stesso
Da un lato, Jane Eyre racconta la storia d’amore tra Jane e un uomo che tiene rinchiusa in un attico la sua prima moglie malata di mente. Dall’altro lato, Jane Eyre si presenta come uno dei primi romanzi scritti da una donna a contenere un messaggio inaspettato: “Se non ami te stessa, come diavolo puoi amare qualcun altro?” Jane sposa Rochester soltanto quando riuscirà ad essere mentalmente, emotivamente e finanziariamente indipendente e uguale a lui. Il consiglio, dunque, è quello di passare un pò di te da sole con se stesse per imparare a conoscersi meglio. (Translation)

Poet Rita Maria Martinez has got in touch with us to let us know that the podcast Bonnets at Dawn interviewed her and they 'talked about Charlotte's letters, reading to spark the poetic imagination,  and how illness or disability can shape one's writing'. You can listen to it here on episode 28.