Bradford Literary Festival - Brontë Events I

Tomorrow, July 2, the Bradford Literature Festival features several Brontë events:

Kate Fox

Brontës for Beginners

Saturday, 2nd July 2022 | 10:00 am - 10:30 am

French Ballroom, The Midland Hotel

They may be Haworth’s most famous family, but who exactly are the Brontës? What are they famous for and how has their influence permeated pop culture, past and present? 

Kicking off our annual Brontë Day, this Brontë for Beginners session will clue you in on everything you need to know about Bradford’s iconic literary fa
mily, the influence their work has had in different parts of the world, and the discussions their writing has inspired over the years. 

Join us as, led by writer, poet, northerner and Brontë superfan Kate Fox, we introduce you to the family’s history and works.

Tasha Suri, Isabel Greenberg, Sally Bayley, Shereen Malherbe, Dr Sofia Rehman
Inspired by the Brontës

Saturday, 2nd July 2022 | 10:45 am - 12:00 pm

French Ballroom, The Midland Hotel

The Brontës’ story may have begun in humble Haworth, but its impact can be felt in the output of creatives across the world. 

To find out just how important their works were, we’ve gathered a group of authors to discuss how the Brontës inspired their creativity, while reflecting on the artistic power the family holds over modern popular culture. 

Chaired by Sofia Rehman, our speakers include Tasha Suri, the award-winning writer behind the Wuthering Heights-inspired young adult epic What Souls Are Made Of, Glass Town graphic novelist and author Isabel Greenberg, and British-Palestinian writer Shereen Malherbe, author of the Jane Eyre remix, The Land Beneath the Light.

Take a step into the minds of our authors and join us for a fascinating insight into the enduring legacy of Yorkshire’s famous literary family.

Ann Dinsdale, Rebecca Yorke
Bringing Charlotte Brontë’s Little Book Home to Haworth
Saturday, 2nd July 2022 | 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
French Ballroom, The Midland Hotel

In 2011, a tiny, hand-written book by Charlotte Brontë was auctioned at Sotheby’s. It formed part of the second series of The Young Men’s Magazine, consisting of six issues, four of which were held at the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Despite a very high-profile and successful fundraising campaign, the museum was outbid at the auction and the little book was acquired by the Aristophil collection in Paris. 

In 2018, museum staff were alerted to the fact that the little book was likely to come back on the market. In November 2019, following a second fundraising campaign, the Brontë Parsonage Museum was successful in purchasing the little book at auction in Paris.

Join Ann Dinsdale and Rebecca Yorke from the Brontë Parsonage Museum as they discuss the literary and cultural significance of the little book and other Brontë treasures, the political implications of private ownership versus public preservation, and their incredible campaign to bring the book back to Haworth.

Pauline Clooney, Monica Kendall, Michael O'Dowd
No Net Ensnares Me: Charlotte Brontë Abroad
Saturday, 2nd July 2022 | 3:15 pm - 4:15 pm
French Ballroom, The Midland Hotel
 

Of all the Brontë siblings, it was perhaps Charlotte whose life offers biographers and enthusiasts the richest variety of avenues to explore, and the greatest variety of backdrops against which to set the author’s literary works. 

Whilst, like her sisters, the vast portion of Charlotte’s life was spent at home in Haworth, she also travelled to Belgium for extended stays at the Heger School in Brussels, first as a student and then as a teacher. Charlotte was also the only sister to marry and travel on a honeymoon, taking in Wales and Ireland – a little known, but illuminating, time in Charlotte’s life.

Join Pauline Clooney, author of Charlotte and Arthur, Monica Kendall, author of Lies and the Brontës: The Quest for the Jenkins Family, and Michael O’Dowd, author of Charlotte Brontë: An Irish Odyssey in this wide-ranging discussion, examining Charlotte’s attitudes to and experiences of travel abroad, drawing on her letters, historical records, the accounts of her friends and biographer, Elizabeth Gaskell, and the previously unappreciated perspective of the Jenkins family.

Emma Butcher, Bella Ellis, Kate Fox
That Wretched Woman: The Lydia Robinson Story
Saturday, 2nd July 2022 | 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
French Ballroom, The Midland Hotel

 Who was Lydia Robinson? While the name may be a mystery to anyone other than Brontë mega-fans, it doesn’t take much to discover that her story has enough shock, intrigue and passion to rival any of the family’s iconic texts.

Believed to be the older married lover – and employer – of Branwell Brontë, Robinson was ultimately blamed for the addictions and early demise of the sisters’ only brother. The story eventually inspired the 1960s hit The Graduate.

Join Dr Emma Butcher, lecturer in 19th-century literature at King’s College London, and Bella Ellis, author of The Brontë Mysteries, to explore the rumours, legacy and truth surrounding this controversial relationship.