Heavy Breathings quoting Wuthering Heights

The Yorkshire Post highlights the presence of Jacqueline Wilson at the Brontë Festival of Women's Writing:

There is a power in writing, to inspire and create, and to carve whole worlds filled with drama, as the Brontë sisters did.

Now, with this weekend's Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing, major names in children's literature are to descend on Haworth.

There's former children's laureate Dame Jacqueline Wilson, bestseller Bea Fitzgerald, along with Liz Flanagan as creator of the Wildsmith fantasy series.

This 13th annual festival runs at a number of settings and hosted by the Brontë Parsonage Museum, with meetings for writers and readers and children's events.

And along with 'in conversation' events with major-name authors, there are workshops for all ages, tapping into people's childhood, nostalgia and, of course, the Brontës themselves.

Liz Flanagan, from Hebden Bridge, is author of the much-loved Wildsmith series. The Brontës brought wonderful stories to the world, she said, to show that imagination is not bound by the circumstances of life.

"To me, they are deeply inspirational, in their ambition and range and breathtaking skill," she said. "It’s vital to create for the next generation and I’m so proud to work in this area of children’s literature. I know from my own childhood reading how transformative and important books were for me."

To a keen reader there are adventures just waiting in the pages of every new novel, and now there are to be talks and workshops for those looking to craft their own stories.

Literary agent Clare Wallace, of Darley Anderson, will share tips while author Lucy Mangan celebrates stories that shaped her childhood in her memoir Bookworm.

Rachel Dodds of Seven Stories will discuss the role that women such as the Brontës have in inspiring writers over the last century, while English teacher Carol Atherton explores books taught in school. Then, there are to be poetry workshops, before a panel shares their own writing and influences.

And Dame Jacqueline Wilson herself, a children's literature legend, will discuss her career and share her story Star of the Show.

A free festival, Words on the Street, runs alongside the main programme with chalk art, storybook witches, poetry trails and activities with museum Storyteller in Residence Sophia Hatfield in the meadow behind the museum, bringing words to life for the whole family.

Ms Flanagan said that through their words, women can achieve just about anything, while a huge array of books are needed to build reading habits that last. (Ruby Kitchen)

The writer Rachel Cooke shares her favourite books in The Week:

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë, 1847

I can't read, or even think about, the scene in which Jane's school friend Helen Burns dies, without crying. It's so real to me that, in rural graveyards, I half expect to come across her modest grey marble headstone, inscribed with the word "Resurgam".

The new version of Emmanuelle, directed by Audrey Diwan has been premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival. The reviews are not very good but it seems that there is a Wuthering Heights mention:

This impersonal sense of apathy permeates the entirety of Diwan’s half-hearted affair, with the blasé Emmanuelle perking up only when in the presence of two opposing forces: chatty escort Zelda (Chacha Huang) and mysterious hotel client Kei (Will Sharpe). With the subtlety of a rusty hammer, Diwan gives the sex worker a battered copy of Wuthering Heights and the elusive man the job of an engineer specialising in dams — a woman who sells affection carrying a book about the selfishness of love and an emotionally stunted man whose job is to erect physical barriers. How clever. (Rafa Sales Ross in Little White Lies)

Soon Emmanuelle is listlessly roaming around the Rosefield Palace Hotel in Hong Kong (the St Regis, whose views provide all the film’s highlights). She’s supposedly inspecting the staff, but also avails herself of the opportunity to have a brief threesome with a couple of guests and masturbate in a potting shed with a local prostitute who frequents the pool (Chacha Huang, forced bizarrely to regurgitate tracts of Wuthering Heights). (Fionnuala Halligan in ScreenDaily)

 While he plays hard to get, she diverts herself with passing pleasures — a three-way with fellow hotel elites, some heavy breathing and Emily Brontë quotation with local escort Zelda (Chacha Huang) — though an inordinate amount of script acreage is given over to some determinedly non-intriguing corporate intrigue regarding Emmanuelle’s pending performance evaluation of hotel manager Margot (Naomi Watts, looking frankly surprised to be there). (Guy Lodge in Variety)

Far Out Magazine reviews the film Man on Fire:

As a storytelling engine, revenge is much, much older than cinema. The Bible is full of people seeking vengeance—such as Lamech in the Book of Genesis or Esau plotting to murder Jacob. Greek and Norse myths were built on revenge tales involving the Gods. Hell, even classic literature such as Wuthering Heights is built around Heathcliff enacting an elaborate revenge scheme on the Earnshaw and Linton families. (Michael Gordon)

The Sunday Times discusses the possible selling of The Observer to Tortoise Media: 

Roger Alton, a former longstanding Observer editor who retains friends in the newsroom, said there had long been a suspicion that Guardian bosses viewed his old newspaper “as being like that mad person in the attic in Jane Eyre”. Alton led the newspaper between 1998 and 2007, a period in which it had a circulation topped 400,000 and launched several successful supplements. He said The Observer always felt like “something they had to put up with, rather than embrace. Now they just want to get The Observer off their hands.” (William Turvill)

Business Mirror discusses why students are reading fewer books in English class:

Will Higgins, an English teacher at Dartmouth High School in Massachusetts, said he still believes in teaching the classics, but demands on students’ time have made it necessary to cut back.

“We haven’t given up on ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ We haven’t giv­en up on ‘Hamlet’ or ‘The Great Gatsby,’ Higgins said. But he said they have given up assigning others like “A Tale of Two Cities.” (Sharon Lurye)

Far Out Magazine discusses the classic B-film The Man from Planet X:

All the elements of gothic sci-fi are present and accounted for here. The setting of Scotland’s misty moors would have worked in a tale like Wuthering Heights. (Michael Gordon)

GoBookmart recommends The Book Swap by Tessa Vickers:

This novel is a “love letter to books and reading,” with rich references to literary classics like Great Expectations and Wuthering Heights. Bickers skillfully captures the power of literature in shaping relationships and healing emotional wounds, making The Book Swap a must-read for book lovers. (Shashank)

Der Bund (Switzerland) reviews Sturmhöhe oder Heathcliff Heathcliff!. Spoiler alert: not good. According to the reviewer, the production takes significant liberties with the source material, presenting a disjointed narrative filled with exaggerated performances, cultural theory references, and seemingly random elements. While occasionally witty, the adaptation ultimately fails to convey a clear purpose or message, leaving the reviewer confused about its intentions. The review suggests that the production may be difficult to follow for those unfamiliar with the original novel and criticizes its lack of coherence despite some entertaining moments.

Die Zitate und Albernheiten, sie sind zahlreich an diesem Abend. In den besten Momenten verdichten sie sich zu einer feingeistigen Persiflage auf eine vergangene Zeit, als sich die stürmische Wetterlage in der Gemütsverfassung der Bewohnerinnen und Bewohner spiegelte, als die Männer vor Wut «wegvagabundierten» und die Frauen vor Verzweiflung dem Wahn verfielen. Eine Welt der Sumpfhühner, Heideschafe und unaussprechlicher englischer Namen (und jetzt alle zusammen: Thrushcross Grange).

So komisch das oft ist: Am Ende bleibt dann vor lauter Ulk doch eher unklar, worum es an diesem Abend gehen soll. Der Blick ins Programmheft macht auch nicht schlauer. Dort wird Chat-GPT befragt, wovon «Sturmhöhe» eigentlich handle. Die Maschine spuckt brav eine Antwort aus. Die Regie bleibt eine schuldig. (Lena Rittmayer) (Translation)

Libreriamo (Italy) recommends reading Wuthering Heights:

“Cime tempestose” di Emily Brontë

Se invece desideri leggere un classico in cui l’amore sia raccontato nella sua variante più passionale, in un’atmosfera fosca che rimanda subito al clima autunnale, non possiamo che suggerirti “Cime tempestose“.

Il romanzo di Emily Brontë narra la storia di Heathcliff, del suo amore per Catherine, e di come questa passione alla fine li distrugga entrambi: tema centrale del libro è difatti l’effetto distruttivo che il senso di gelosia e lo spirito di vendetta possono avere sugli individui.

La storia è raccontata come una sorta di lungo racconto che Ellen Dean, o Nelly (la governante della famiglia) racconta al signor Lockwood, il nuovo affittuario di Thrushcross Grange; il finale è invece ambientato l’anno successivo alla partenza di Mr. Lockwood. (Nicoletta Migliore) (Translation) 

El Progreso (Spain) interviews singer-songrwriter and actress Sophie Auster:

Rocío Cortés Galdo: Sus padres son grandes narradores, usted siguió su estela: cuenta historias, pero con música. Algo inevitable, supongo, contar historias ya que su madre, la escritora Siri Hustvedt, hasta los 13 años se pasaba dos horas leyéndole un libro antes de irse a dormir. ¿Cuál  fue su favorito?

S.A.: Mi madre y yo leíamos todo juntas. Comenzamos con clásicos infantiles como Peter Pan, la serie de Oz, los cuentos de hadas de los hermanos Grimm, El jardín secreto, por nombrar algunos, y rápidamente pasamos a leer a Austen, Dickens, Wilde, las hermanas Brontë y muchos más. Probablemente, de los libros que mi madre y yo leímos juntas, David Copperfield, Jane Eyre y Cumbres borrascosas fueron los que más me influyeron en mi vida, entonces tenía, más o menos, entre 10 y 12 años. (Translation)

Amateur synchronised swimming shows (with Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights among others) in the Malvern Observer.