All the
Brontë Stones poems (
Emily, by Kate Bush,
Anne, by Jackie Kay,
Charlotte by Carol Ann Duffy and
The Brontës by Jeannette Winterson) are published today in
The Observer:
A new poem by Bush has been carved into one of four stones placed across the West Riding, spaced out between the sisters’ birthplace in Thornton and the parsonage in Haworth, where the three writers lived and worked with their brother Branwell and their father, the Rev Patrick Brontë.
Once again, Bush’s words play with the lonely memory of the novel’s lost soul, the wilful Cathy Earnshaw, and with the image of a single window. But this time the tone is more measured and it is the ghostly spirit of Emily Brontë who is also roaming lost on the moor.
Her famous book in hand, the young author is pictured standing, at the poem’s opening:
“Her name is Cathy”, she says
“I have carried her so far, so far
Along the unmarked road
from our graves...
Bush, 58, was commissioned alongside the poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, the Scottish national poet or makar, Jackie Kay, and the novelist Jeanette Winterson as part of the Bradford literature festival, which closes this weekend.
Duffy has written lines in praise of Charlotte, the eldest surviving Brontë daughter and author of Jane Eyre. Kay has written about Anne, the youngest daughter, who wrote the less well-known novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Bush was given the chance to write again about her literary heroine Emily, who was born 200 years ago this month. Winterson’s poem marks the Brontë legacy as a whole.
This weekend, Bush said she was delighted to be involved: “To be asked to write a piece for Emily’s stone is an honour and, in a way, a chance to say thank you to her,” she said. “Each sister being remembered by a stone in the enigmatic landscape where they lived and worked is a striking idea. Emily only wrote the one novel – an extraordinary work of art that has truly left its mark.” (Read more) (Vanessa Thorpe)
Also in
The Observer, a review of the film
Mary Shelley:
The tone wavers somewhere between Gossip Girl and Jane Eyre, and while it feels stretched at two hours, its teen-movie digressions work well as opportunities to apply contemporary feminist critiques to the Romantics. (Simran Hans)
More
Observer. A selection of summer books recommended by writers and cultural figures:
Nina Stibbe: Two recent favourites are memoirs that use other books to tell their story. Sally Bayley’s Girl With Dove: A Life Built By Books (Harper Collins) borrows voices and themes from literary classics (eg Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, Miss Marple, Milly-Molly-Mandy) to make sense of the strange goings-on in her own family. I highly recommend the author’s exuberant reading of the audiobook for the full effect of this beguiling, eccentric, funny memoir.
The Telegraph & Argus announces the line up for the upcoming
Thornton Gala event (July 21):
The line up for the re-launch of Thornton Gala has been announced, and it features a wide variety of acts, live music and fun family events.
The gala will return to the village on Saturday July 21 after a 10 year absence, and is being held at Hill Top Recreation Field. (...)
There will also be dance performances, an exhibition on Thornton’s most famous daughters the Bronte sisters, a dog show, BMX demonstration and a performance by pupils from Beckfoot Thornton. (Chris Young)
Specifically:
South Square will be running activities at Thornton Gala, related to the current exhibition celebrating the life of Emily Brontë.
By the way, new pictures of the
Of Real Worlds: Emily Brontë's Bicentenary Birthday Party at the South Square Centre in Thornton can be seen on its Facebook page.
Rants and Reves of a Bibliophile reviews
My Plain Jane;
I Was Thinking... briefly posts about
Wide Sargasso Sea.
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