Who here is an Emily person?

Humber Mouth Hull Literary Festival has an article on the recent discussion on Emily Brontë by Bonnie Greer and Lauren Livesey.

Before we begin uncovering who Emily was and grounding her in her native Yorkshire – as festival co-curator Bonnie Greer said she ought be – a little about today’s guest.
Lauren Livesey was given a copy of Wuthering Heights aged 6 by her father – a little young perhaps to understand the intense and destructive passions of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff – she returned to the book some years later and by aged 14 had read all the Brontës’ novels. With her love of literature firmly rooted, Lauren joined the museum as an intern, later working as Collections Manager. Now as Audience Development Officer for the Brontë Society, Lauren is responsible for delivering events and exhibitions, working with artists and writers exploring and promoting the legacy of the Brontës.
Recently Lauren has worked with poet Patience Agbabi (Brontë Society writer in residence) and poet Simon Armitage (bi-centenary of Branwell Brontë in 2017) also The Unthanks, the North East folk band putting Emily’s poetry to music, and Lily Cole whose short film Balls looking at Heathcliff’s foundling origins, premiered at the festival in Hull.
There is a deep fascination surrounding these three clergyman’s daughters who were just at home reading Byron and Shelley as they might the bible particularly from the Far East. Apparently the Chinese relate strongly to the self improvement narrative found in Jane Eyre and the Japanese just adore Wuthering Heights. Not for the first time this week Bonnie Greer makes connections between Wuthering Heights and the innovative work of film director Akira Kurosawa.
Addressing the audience Bonnie asks, ‘Who here is an Emily Person?’ Not really knowing who Emily is and finding Emily being confused with Catherine while a picture of Kate Bush swirls around in my head – she was my window into the Wuthering Heights book – I on not raise my hand. Others in the room speak about connecting with Emily’s inner strength, her anger, her defiance, her affiliation with nature, her wildness: her three dimensional female characters… (Continue reading)

Curbed interviews Susan Harland about her book Decorating a Room of One’s Own: Conversations on Interior Design with Miss Havisham, Jane Eyre, Victor Frankenstein, Elizabeth Bennet, Ishmael and Other Literary Notables.

Tell me about how you came up with the idea of bringing together literary classics and interior design. The book started with Jane Eyre. I was watching a film adaptation one night and thinking about the particular house that was used as Thornfield Hall in that movie, and also my love of home design sites, like Apartment Therapy, which had actually done a house tour of my house when I moved into it five years ago. I thought it would be funny to think about Jane Eyre giving a kind of similar tour of Thornfield Hall, and mapping that whole narrative of “what your house means to you” onto this really Gothic, terrible space. I decided to keep going, thinking about which houses in literature are my favorites, and it turned into a regular column, at [now defunct feminist website] the Toast. (Joanna Scutts)

The Canadian Jewish News interviews Melanie Fishbane about her historical novel, Maud, inspired by the teenage years of author Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Links with other famous literary rebels also appear, most obviously Maud’s own adored Louisa May Alcott, but also, in the western chapters, Charlotte Brontë, whose Jane Eyre seems to pop up in Maud’s relationship with her cold and controlling stepmother – does that seem fair? The fact is, Montgomery loved both Alcott and Bronte. Her copy of Little Women is so well read, that at the archives you can only look at a photocopy because the original is practically falling apart. The Emily series is heavily influenced by Brontë. Montgomery was a deep reader and would read and re-read these books throughout her life. I always went back to the source material with this book, seeing who Montgomery loved. The way the stepmother is cast is inspired by the journals. (Nancy Wigston)

Film School Rejects comments on the fact that rehashing the same stories for films time and time again is nothing new.

In an age of inescapable remakes, sequels, and reboots, it’s easy to condemn Hollywood’s love for recycling the same stories, archetypes, and genre conventions. The artistic stagnation encircling Hollywood blockbusters may seem like a modern phenomenon, but the film industry has relied on formulaic revivals and modern updates of classics since its conception. Between 1931 and 1941, the novel “The Maltese Falcon” was adapted into three wholly distinct adaptations. “Jane Eyre” was adapted into eight silent films alone between 1910 and 1936, and King Kong endured half a dozen reimaginings in the 20th century. (Darby Delaney)

We have two surprising? unexpected? unlikely? comparisons to Heathcliff today.

Here's how The Times describes the Irish Green Party leader, Eamon Ryan.

As the sun shone on Kildare Street, a red mist had descended upon Eamon Ryan, the Green Party leader, as he brooded like a clean-cut Heathcliff in his seat. (Lise Hand)

And here's how a young student who had a stroke describes herself for The Cavalier Daily.

And yeah, maybe I feel a little bit sexy for boasting a rare medical condition. No one can figure me out. I’m elusive. I’m exciting. I am rare and interesting — the Heathcliff of the medical world. I am Asian and female with no high blood pressure or diabetes. I exercise regularly and eat decently healthy. I get eight hours of sleep most nights. I am 20 years old, and I had a stroke. (Aly Lee)