Emily's otherworldly profile

Diane Fare's column in Keighley News reports the upcoming activities at the Brontë Parsonage Museum:

We have two things on our mind this October – a little book and Halloween!
As the museum gets ready for Halloween, and our popular Late-Night Thursday spooky storytelling sessions, we’re all busy spreading the word about a very precious Brontë book that is soon to come up for auction in Paris.
As some of you may know, when the Brontë children were in their teens, they made ‘little books’, packed with stories and advertisements, written in the tiniest handwriting imaginable.
The one coming up for auction was made by Charlotte Brontë when she was just 14. It’s dated August 19 1830 and is no bigger than a matchbox. (...)
We’re campaigning very hard to raise funds, so we can bid for the book at the auction in Paris and bring it back to Haworth.
This book came up for auction a few years ago, and we were outbid, so we’re desperate to get it this time.
If you want to help us bring the book home to Haworth (and every penny helps!) you can donate in person at the museum, or donate online at bronte.org.uk/support-us/donate or call 01535 642323.
On the day of Halloween itself, we’re open until 7.30pm, and as usual with Late-Night Thursday, admission is free after 5.30pm to locals living in the BD22, BD21, BD20 postcodes as well as Thornton, where the Brontë children were born. (...)
And as I mentioned last month, we have the legendary John Agard in Haworth on Saturday November 2.
John is performing in Haworth’s Hall Green Baptist Chapel at 5pm – an ideal time for families to come along after a day out!

The Royal Mint negative to issuing commemorative coins for Emily Brontë's anniversary is discussed in The Mail on Sunday:

Royal Mint bosses have been accused of sexism for rejecting plans to honour novelist sisters Emily and Charlotte Brontë with special coins.
The Mint’s male-dominated advisory committee on commemorative coins was accused of failing to ‘take women seriously’ after snubbing the authors of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.
The board, chaired by former Tory Cabinet Minister Lord Waldegrave, comprised ten men and three women when it met in 2016 and decided not to mint a coin to mark the bicentenary of Emily Brontë’s birth in 2018.
According to the committee minutes, obtained by this newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act, members thought the honour would be ‘inappropriate’ because they had already rejected the idea of a coin to mark the bicentenary of her sister’s birth two years earlier.
The minutes state: ‘It was accepted that if her sister had not been commemorated in a previous year then it would be inappropriate to issue a coin for Emily.’  (...)
 Author Dame Margaret Drabble said: ‘It seems strange that two of the most important and influential writers in the English language should have been overlooked in this way and for such flimsy reasons.
‘Their significance is beyond question so you can’t help but wonder if this shows a reluctance to take women seriously. Emily would look particularly wonderful – her otherworldly profile like a Greek goddess would be very striking.’ (...)
The Royal Mint rejected any suggestion of sexism. A spokesman pointed out they have a female chief executive and said the Brontës may be honoured on a coin in the future. (Chris Hastings)

Scenestr reviews the Brisbane (Australia) performances of Jane Eyre:

Shake & stir theatre co. have taken on this iconic literary classic and put their own modern spin on it, most notably incorporating an original musical score by multi ARIA Award winner Sarah McLeod who performs it live on stage throughout the play. (...)
It’s always challenging to reimagine a story that has been told so many times before. There were elements that worked beautifully, and some that missed the mark. But what shake & stir created was a visually arresting, unique experience and their commitment to pushing conventional constraints is refreshing. (Majella McMahon)

Tribune Ledger News is all about Janes, plains or not:

 Perhaps the most famous in literature – Jane Eyre.
In Charlotte Brontë’s famous work published in 1847 it describes this leading lady as “poor obscure, plain and little.” This certainly reinforces the age old saying, but the book actually was quite scandalous, because this Jane was quite independent and desired a life filled with passion and was wholly unable to settle for any substitution.
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.”
I make the case that because she owned who she was and was secure in her own individuality, it made her truly unforgettable winning not only the heart of a Mr. Rochester, but the reader as well.
In my estimation the world has embraced the boldness and sophistication of simplicity. Try typing plain Jane into your Pinterest search bar and you will discover a world of style that is both chic and progressive with plenty of devotees.
Clearly, there is more to the 21st century plain Jane than meets the eye. (Carla Barnes)

The artist Celia Paul remembers in The Guardian how

For a while the family lived near Haworth, and the Brontës have been touchstones for all of the sisters. They have each lost count of the number of times they have read Jane Eyre. Something of the ghost of that association animates a poetic, sometimes painfully honest memoir that Paul has written, which is the occasion for our interview. (Tim Adams)

Cape Cod Times discusses Jack Kerouac's On The Road:

Maybe, just maybe, Keroauc and his friends were just chasing their tails while rushing to grab the most they could out of life. But, just like with Fitzgerald’s Gatsby, just like with Brontë’s Heathcliff, there’s something glorious, something beautiful, about the passion of the pursuit when it comes to Dean Moriarty, or Neal Cassady, or Sal Paradise, or Jack Kerouac. (Tim Miller)

On the verge of Brexit (or not), several writers have written letters to Europe in The Guardian:

Tony Robinson: (...) On this odyssey I’ve never once thought of any of the above authors as exotic, foreign or outside my sphere of understanding. They are as much part of me as Shakespeare, the Brontës and the Beatles. They shaped me, moulded me, wrought me. I am British and I am European. Neither diminishes the other. Both enhance the other.

The history of York's Coney Street in The York Press:

By 1614, that particular site had become a coaching stop, The George Inn. Famous guests, included Castle Howard architect John Vanbrugh, and Charlotte Brontë and her sister Anne, who stayed at The George on the night of May 24/25, 1849. (Maxine Gordon)

A visit to England in The Daily Progress:

Then the Yorkshire Dales brought us miles and miles of lush green rolling hills lined by endless walls of ancient moss-covered stone and rushing streams, with countless sheep dotting the meadows for as far as you could see. And finally, our last four days were spent weaving across the Yorkshire Moors, where we walked through miles and miles of beautiful heather-lined paths over a series of rolling hills, like something out of a Brontë novel. (Mark Lorenzoni)

The Daily Telegraph interviews Theo James, of Sanditon fame:

“I thought there was a tone of Wuthering Heights to it, as the pair go back and forth between love and hate,” he says, but adds  he hadn't intentionally invoked Heathcliff, although he would love to play the Brontë antihero one day. “I would love to play him, it is a great, iconic part,” he says.

El Diario Vasco (Spain) presents the novel by Alaitz Leceaga, Las Hijas de la Tierra:

Leceaga urde una trama sobre «el ciclo de la violencia, el abandono y la crueldad, que no termina nunca y que hace que las víctimas puedan crear más víctimas». Esa es la verdadera maldición. Y con un estilo que bebe de obras como 'Cumbres borrascosas' o 'Jane 'Eyre', con los gritos y susurros que acechan por los pasillos del caserón. (E. Sierra) (Translation)

ActuaBD (France) talks about the comic Maudis Sois-tu, T.1 "Zaroff" by Philippe Pelaez and Carlos Puerta:

Sont ainsi convoqués Charles Darwin et l’explorateur Richard Burton ainsi que les écrivaines Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) et Emily Brontë (Les Hauts de Hurlevent). (LL) (Translation)

Libreriamo and books to read with a cup of tea:

Cime Tempestose. Questo classico della letteratura inglese, racconta la storia di un amore distruttivo, quello di Heathcliff per la sorellastra Catherine, che si svolge su un’alta e ventosa collina dello Yorkshire, in una tenuta chiamata appunto “Cime tempestose”. A narrare la vicenda è il signor Lockwood, che quarant’anni più tardi si ritrova a passare la notte nella tenuta e che, incuriosito dalla presenza di strani personaggi, chiede spiegazioni all’anziana governante. Il racconto della donna comincia dal giorno in cui il proprietario di “Cime tempestose”, porta a casa un orfano: Heathcliff. Il ragazzo si lega profondamente a Catherine, figlia del signor Earnshaw, ma le differenze sociali finiscono con il separarli, anche se la loro amicizia si è ormai trasformata in amore.  (Translation)

Emily Brontë is quoted in an article about the wonders of the Fall season on Your Tango. La Tribune de Genève (Switzerland) thinks that Angel Olsen is more Wuthering Heights than Little House on the Prairie. Bookish Beck reviews the Newbury performances of the Black Eyed Theatre Jane Eyre production.