Underdogs and podcasts

What'sOnStage announces the National Theatre programme for 2024, which will include a Brontë-related play.

Underdog: The Other Other Brontë by Sarah Gordon, directed by Natalie Ibu, is set to hit the stage in March 2024, in collaboration with Northern Stage. This irreverent retelling of the Brontë sisters’ lives and their sibling dynamics will star Rhiannon Clements, Adele James, and Gemma Whelan. The Dorfman Theatre will host this production from 27 March until 25 May, with the press night scheduled for 4 April. (Alex Wood)

The Northern Echo shares the highlights of Durham Book Festival 2023.

Festive Laureate Zaffar Kunial set Durham Book Festival off to a roaring start with reflective and touching readings from his book: ‘England’s Green’, as well as his festival-commissioned poem ‘Vapor Trail’. [...]

A particular highlight of the evening was his reading of ‘Scarbrough’(sic), where Kunial creates gentle connections through a misspelling of his mother’s middle name ‘Ann’ on her death certificate, to Ann [sic] Brontë’s interior world. 

“The tide. It’s an/ oxygen machine, still going”. (Gavin Havery)

LitHub shares an episode of the podcast I'm a Writer But which features a conversation with Rachel Cantor, author of  Half-Life of a Stolen Sister: A Novel of the Brontës.

From the episode:

Rachel Cantor: Their world was such a world of the imagination, and it’s so incredibly important–not just for their books that would come–but for their relationship, because it bound them together. The four surviving Brontë children shared a creative life. They told stories together, they created entire imaginary realms together, they wrote stories which they read to each other or they collaborated on, they illustrated–it was an entire universe that they inhabited, and I found that thrilling to be a part of. I wanted to be in that room where all that creative maelstrom was happening.

Another Brontë-related podcast is National Review's The Great Books, whose episode 296 features Villette.

The Guardian argues that 'stars like Taylor Swift can help to make literature pop'.

Hello, hello, how low, some might argue. No doubt the critics will see this as “dumbing down”, a defeatist attempt to pander to today’s teen spirit. Oh well, whatever, never mind. I’ve seen first-hand the beneficial effects of creating an invisible string between historical works and modern popular culture in my new course at Ghent University in Belgium. Titled English literature (Taylor’s version), it offers in-depth perspectives on the works you might expect on an English literature syllabus – from anonymous Old English poets to Geoffrey Chaucer, Charlotte Brontë and Sylvia Plath – with a special guest appearance from the 21st century’s new literary superstar, Taylor Swift. (Elly McCausland)

The Khaama Press tells the heart-warming story of a 25-year-old woman who has managed to open a library in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

Love for books and fear of the disappearance of the reading culture in Badakhshan motivated 25-year-old Giti Farah to establish a library in this province at her expense and the selfless assistance of her sister, Uranus.

Giti, a medical graduate, embarked on a journey from Baharak district in Badakhshan to the city of Faizabad, the province’s capital, one day to purchase books. Surprisingly, she discovered that the city had changed, and the bookstores and libraries no longer had the same atmosphere. She had intended to buy books by Chekhov, Emily Brontë, and Daphne du Maurier for her 15-year-old sister, Arvanus, but she returned empty-handed. (Zahra Rashidi)

Sussex Express features Chapter 34, a new bookshop in Shoreham.

Chapter 34 comes from the number of the shop but also, by coincidence, that is the final chapter of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and Kelly feels that is a great story to be associated with.

She said: "I hunted for bookshop names online for weeks but I saw many were taken. I didn't want a pun. I wanted something simple." (Elaine Hammond)

Daily Sabah considers the film A Street Cat Named Bob a feel-good movie and enlightens readers on his concept.

As “A Street Cat Named Bob” is a feel-good story, I will focus on this type. While "Cinderella" is a perfect example of a feel-good story, its archetype is to be found in “The Odyssey” by Homer. Here, the hero Odysseus passes through numerous hardships to eventually be reunited with his wife and son from whom he has been long sundered. Thus, it ends without the words being explicit, with a “happy ever after” moment. This type of story does not belong simply to the Western literary tradition. For instance, Sinbad the Sailor in “The Thousand and One Nights” follows a similar pattern and may owe something of its origin to the story of Odysseus.

As with “The Odyssey,” a “happily ever after” ending does not need to be explicitly written; that is the prerogative of fairy tales. But explicit or not, it is an essential, indeed defining, element of the feel-good story and often, as in the case of Cinderella, entails the marriage of two lovers. In the novel Jane Eyre by “Charlotte Brontë,” Jane goes through many hardships, but it is a feel-good story in that at the end, she is reunited with Edward Rochester, the man she loves, and when the final chapter of the novel announces, “Reader, I married him,” it is an implicit, “and she lived happily ever after” if ever there was one.

Indeed, Brontë goes on to spell out exactly what this means. A perspective 10 years later, Jane states of her married life that “I hold myself to be supremely blest – blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband’s life as fully as he is mine ... we are precisely suited in character – perfect concord is the result.” A cynic might note that this ideal view of marriage was written while Brontë herself was still single. (A. Peter Dore)

About Manchester recommends 'Alluring Autumnal Day Trips from Manchester' including

Haworth: A Literary Exploration Amidst the Moors

The village of Haworth, nestled amidst the rugged and enchanting West Yorkshire moors, is synonymous with the literary legacy of the Brontë sisters. Visitors can explore the Brontë Parsonage Museum, once the home of the illustrious writers.

Then, you can wander through the atmospheric moorlands that inspired timeless novels like “Wuthering Heights.” The charming cobbled streets, lined with cosy cafés and antiquarian bookshops, invite you to meander and perhaps discover your own literary inspiration.

Each destination, with its unique appeal and autumnal charm, promises a delightful adventure, leaving visitors with memories as vivid and heart-warming as the season itself. So, wrap up warmly, step into the crisp autumn air, and let the adventures begin. (benwilliams)

ITVX features the campaign to save the Brontë birthplace. You can help here. The Brussels Brontë Blog has a post on a recent talk by Michael Stewart, author of Walking the Invisible.