Outlandish Coincidence

Keighley News highlights one of the November events at the Parsonage:

Sophia Tobin will head the creative writing session as part of the Brontë Society’s programme of events to mark 200 years since the birth of Branwell Brontë.
The workshop, called Every Object Can Spark a Story, will draw on the famous Brontë collection.
A spokesman for the event organisers said: “There will be a unique opportunity to see some items up close and then write prose or poetry inspired by the Brontë relics.
“It is suitable for beginners or more experienced writers.”
Sophia previously worked for a Bond Street antique dealer for six years, specialising in silver and jewellery. (Richard Parker)

Also in Keighley News a local education initiative:

Year-five children from St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Keighley have visited the Haworth home of the legendary literary sisters and the landscape which inspired them.
The pupils took part in art and creative writing workshops at the Brontë Parsonage, with museum staff and artist Rachel Emily Taylor, a senior lecturer at Leeds Arts University. (...)
Year-five teacher, Ben Palmer, said: "The visit to Haworth began with a meander into the lives of the world-famous Brontë sisters and this was followed-up with some outdoor learning as the children drew on Emily, Anne and Charlotte's inspiration by venturing up to Haworth moors. It was this bleak landscape that led the children to explore the hardships of Victorian life."
Arts Council England provided funding for the project.
Sue Newby, learning officer at the Parsonage, said the venture had been "a great opportunity" for the museum.
"It's not only given us the chance to work with artist Rachel Taylor – exploring the intriguing identity of Heathcliff through artwork and poetry – but has helped us to reach local children who may not have visited us before," she added.
"There's such a wealth of stunning landscape and unique heritage that we have to share in Haworth – not to mention our museum, once home to the Brontës, the most famous and fascinating literary family in history. All on the children's doorstep!" (Alistair Shand)

Town & Country Magazine reports how the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton is up for sale:

The Brontë sisters' childhood home in Yorkshire, which in recent years has been renovated into a coffee shop called Emily's, is up for sale. (...)
While many changes were made to the Grade II structure (a designation in the UK used for historic buildings of particular importance), some original features still remain including the fireplace and timber staircase.
De Lucas is now selling the building and the business privately, and is reportedly hoping to get something in the ball park of £250,000 for them both. (Caroline Hallemann)

The Lancaster Guardian remembers how

Tunstall has a rich history, including the local church, St John the Bapstist, which the Brontë sisters attended in the 1820s for a year while attending the Clergy Daughter’s school in nearby Cowan Bridge.

The Guardian anticipates next week's best things to do

Following a rapturously received season at the National Theatre in 2015, and a UK tour, Sally Cookson’s innovative reimagining of Charlotte Brontë’s trailblazing Jane Eyre (described as “a picture of exultant feminism” by the Observer) returns to the same London venue. Featuring imaginative stage design and an imposing musical score, this is heart-stopping theatre at its best.
At the National Theatre: Lyttleton, SE1, 26 September to 21 October

RTÉ's The Book Show has announced a competition inviting listeners to write a letter to a character from a novel:

The Book Show asked the writer Kit de Waal (My Name Is Leon) to think of a character she’d like to write to and she immediately thought of Bertha Mason - the first Mrs Rochester from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Dragged over from Jamaica to a cold, lonely house in England by her unloving husband Edward Rochester, she became maligned as the madwoman in the attic. Kit de Waal has one piece of advice - Get Out Of Thee!

Some years ago, Kit de Waal, obsessed with the story of Brontë’s misunderstood character, impersonated her in a letter to her husband Edward Rochester and she shared this piece of flash fiction with The Book Show.

Oliver Kamm, in The Times, always the Brontëite:

I have a six-mile round trip to and from the office. I walk it while listening to Victorian novels on my smartphone. It’s the right sort of literature for London traffic: the narrative pace of, say, George Eliot means that if a passing juggernaut momentarily drowns out the sound, I’m unlikely to have missed a crucial plot twist. In the case of one novel I particularly admire, though — Charlotte Brontë’s Villette — I had to listen again to a chapter for a different reason. The plot hinges on an outlandish coincidence and I couldn’t quite credit that the author had resorted to so implausible a contrivance. She could have done with a ruthless editor insisting she rewrite it.

Also in The Times, a review of Susan Hill's Jacob's Room is Full of Books:

Jacob’s Room is Full of Books is a diary of stray thoughts about life and literature. In her reading, Hill is high-brow, low-brow, middle-brow and raised eyebrow. She gives equal shelf room to Vladimir Nabokov’s Lectures on Literature and the Ladybird book The Enormous Turnip. She has not read Jane Eyre, doesn’t think much of Jane Austen, and still gets The Beano Annual for Christmas every year. (Laura Freeman)

Press Connect lists some good soundtracks for working or studying:

Jane Eyre (2011). Dario Marianelli
If you like scenes with little or no talking, and shots of main characters walking through foggy fields, this is a movie for you. Jane, played by Mia Wasikowska, has a horrific upbringing, including time spent at a school for orphaned girls, where abuse is rampant. She becomes a governess, and the rest unfolds. A lot of the communication in this movie comes from glances, facial expressions and body movement. If you prefer banter, check out No. 3 and No. 4. Suggested tracks: Wandering Jane, A Game of Badminton, In Jest or Earnest. (Hannah Schwarz)

Broadway World reports the US premiere of the Monica Salvi cabaret Mad Women in My Attic!:

The haunting, comedic cabaret show, Mad Women in my Attic! comes to the United Solo Festival on Saturday, October 7th at 4:00 pm. The production played to critical acclaim at the Brighton Fringe and Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2015. (...)
A semi-autobiographical cabaret set in a lunatic asylum. From Sweeney Todd, to Jane Eyre the musical, from Sunset Boulevard to Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Mad Women in my Attic! is a fantastic romp through showtunes, folk and cabaret songs, celebrating the mentally unstable women that populate music and theatre.

The Times reviews the concert by the Nash Ensemble at Wigmore Hall which included

[John] Casken’s Misted Land, the other premiere, took up 15 minutes and didn’t waste any of them. Richard Hosford’s clarinet and the Nash strings darted delectably around a constantly shifting, mysterious landscape, probably not far from Wuthering Heights. (Geoff Brown)

A local production of The Mystery of Irma Vep in the Snoqualmie Valley Record:

This play borrows from a smorgasbord of works such as Wuthering Heights, the Hitchcock film, Rebecca, Shakespeare, Victorian penny dreadfuls and the entire selection of American vampire, mummy and werewolf movies. For good reason, Irma Vep has the distinction of being Ludlam’s most popular work, inspiring hundreds of productions around the world.

Advisor Professional (in Italian) quotes Anne Brontë:

E se “come diceva un vecchio saggio che il vento non si ferma con le mani” la rivoluzione non si potrà subire, ma soltanto trasformare in una preziosa opportunità. Purtroppo non per tutti. Partendo dalla citazione della scrittrice e poetessa britannica Anne Brontë “Chi non osa afferrare le spine, non dovrebbe mai desiderare la rosa”, i consulenti finanziari non potranno aver paura di giocare la partita, non dovranno temere la concorrenza: anche fosse agguerrita e scorretta, anche non avesse consolidata esperienza, un adeguato approccio e quel metodo affinato nel tempo e perfezionato attraverso la tecnologia. Insomma nessuna scusa, nessun blocco alla concorrenza. (Massimo Donato) (Translation) 

Newsmonkey (in Dutch) reviews the TV series Anne with an E:

Anne is een intelligent meisje, dat is al snel duidelijk. Ze tatert en tatert en tatert, heeft een levendige verbeelding en ze houdt van lezen en van grootse liefdesverhalen. Ze kan uit het hoofd citeren uit Jane Eyre en ze heeft een uitgebreide woordenkennis die zo ver gaat dat ze kan praten zodat geen van haar klasgenootjes begrijpen waar ze het over heeft. (Geert Verheyen) (Translation)

El Digital de Castilla-La Mancha (in Spanish) traces a profile of the author Elena Fuentes Moreno:

Su fascinación por personajes con personalidades fuertes como Heathcliff o Catherine Earshaw, protagonistas de 'Cumbres Borrascosas', o los que pueblan el universo literario de Patricia Highsmith, le llevó a interesarse por el estudio de la psique humana. (Translation)

Culturamas (in Spanish) reviews La Composición de la sal by Magela Baudoin:

Mención aparte merece Borrasca, donde Cumbres borrascosas se convierte en una metáfora emocional sobre la que hablan la abuela y la nieta en un día de playa con mucho sol. Aunque podríamos haber elegido cualquier otro, pues ese océano en el que flota el iceberg es lo cotidiano, algo de lo que no se aparta Baudoin, algo que convierte en un estilo literario. (Ricardo Martínez Llorca) (Translation)

Cineuropa (in Italian) talks about the latest film by the Taviani Brothers, just premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, Una questione privata:

Ambientato nelle Langhe fuori Torino durante la guerra civile in Italia, la storia segue un partigiano di vent’anni noto con il nome di battaglia di Milton (Luca Marinelli), come il poeta inglese del XVII secolo. Grazie al suo migliore amico Giorgio (Lorenzo Richelmy), verrà presentato a Fulvia (Valentina Bellè), una ragazza spiritosamente provocante che ama ascoltare Over the Rainbow di Judy Garland e leggere Cime tempestose di Emily Brontë. Milton si innamora immediatamente di lei e sembra che l’affetto sia reciproco. (Vassilis Economou) (Translation)

El Blog Perdido de Laura (in Spanish) reviews The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell. Jane Eyre's Library (also in Spanish) briefly posts about The Brontë Yearbook by Juliet Barker.