In awe at Anne Brontë’s courage in writing The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

The Telegraph and Argus features the new exhibition opening this week at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, The Brontës’ Web of Childhood.

The Brontë siblings lost their mother and two oldest sisters before any of the four remaining children had reached their 10th birthday.

Themes of family and grief, as well as their moorland home and unconventional education, played significant roles in the childhoods of Emily, Charlotte, Anne and Branwell, and went on to shape their creativity.

Now the Brontë Parsonage Museum is shining a spotlight on the siblings’ remarkable childhood in a new exhibition.

The Brontes’ Web of Childhood, which opens on February 1, is the centrepiece of a year-long programme of events focussing on the formative years of the world famous literary family.

The exhibition includes letters and other items from the family never before seen in public, Charlotte’s christening cap - on display for the first time - and a textile installation from contemporary artist Ellie Brennan.

The new programme of exhibitions, talks and activities at the Parsonage Museum explores how the childhood of Branwell, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë shaped them as writers.

The Brontës’ Web of Childhood examines what it was like for the family growing up in a draughty parsonage on the edge of the moor, and how their experiences inspired their creativity, both as children and adults.

Throughout the museum, visitors will also be able to see items connected to these themes, including letters previously held in the Blavatnik Honresfield Library, which has a national collection of manuscripts, first editions and letters, showing, for the first time, Charlotte’s intimate thoughts on death and mortality.

Diaries, portraits, schoolbooks and toys belonging to and created by the family as children will also be on display, alongside several of Branwell and Charlotte’s remarkable ‘Little Books’ - the tiny, handmade and written publications, smaller than a matchbox, created for their toy soldiers.

Charlotte’s christening cap, on loan from a private collection, will be returned to the Parsonage Museum to make its first ever public appearance. And her drawing of Zenobia Ellrington, a significant figure in the Brontës’ early writing, dating from October 15, 1833 will also be in the exhibition. [...]

Inspired by the Brontë sisters’ first impressions of their new home when they moved to Haworth from their birthplace in Thornton in 1820, these newly created rugs contrast the wild, dark nature of the landscape around the village with the innocence and lightness of childhood.

Throughout the year, the former Brontë family home turned museum in Haworth will host a series of events that each reflect what we know of the childhood of the Brontës.

Events include storyteller Sophia Hatfield sharing folk tales inspired by the servants who lived in the house and the stories they may have told the Brontë children.

The annual Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing in September will centre around contemporary children and Young Adult writers, bringing some of the UK’s most well-known writers in these genres to Haworth.

* Other Brontë Society events include;

* Haiku Pick Me Ups: Created by Writer in Residence Ian Humphreys, the installation (in the museum’s Exhibition Room until March 3) follows walking and writing workshops he led last summer on Haworth Moor with local groups. During these ‘walkshops’ hundreds of haiku were written - each short poem inspired by nature, the wild and the Brontës. Visitors can have a go at writing their own haiku.

* Emily Brontë and Vampires: This talk considers Emily Brontë’s literary relationship with the figure of the vampire. The talk, on Thursday, February 8, at the Old School Room, 2pm, traces the influence of German literature on Emily’s understanding and usage of the vampire figure in Wuthering Heights, and the impact of this on contemporary vampire fiction, including Stephenie Meyer’s Eclipse, the third instalment in her vampire series Twilight.

* Creating the Brontë Legacy: Focus on how the the family’s literary legacy was created and how authentic a view this provided. The process began with Charlotte’s curation of Emily and Anne’s literary output, but is most strongly associated with Elizabeth Gaskell’s Life of Charlotte Brontë, which shaped decisively not only how Charlotte was perceived but also her father, her husband, her brother and significant figures associated with the Brontës.

This often-mythical view will be compared to the perceptions of those who knew or met Charlotte and her family, including her friend Ellen Nussey, her publisher George Smith and the people of Haworth. The talk is on Thursday March 14, 2pm at the Old School Room.

* The Brontës and the 19th Century Art World: Talk looking at what art was being made at the time of the Brontës, specifically by female artists. It will discuss how important art was to the Brontës’ lives, and how they utilised art in the novels Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The talk takes place on Thursday, April 18, 2pm, at the Old School Room. (Emma Clayton)

The Irish Times interviews writer Cathy Sweeney.

Who do you admire the most?

I admire many writers but I am in awe at Anne Brontë’s courage in writing The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. (Martin Doyle)

The Guardian highlights the best new picture books and novels for children and teens and one of them is

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, abridged by Patrice Lawrence, Walker, £7.99

Lawrence’s pared-back, heartfelt retelling distils the richness and drama of Brontë’s masterpiece into a 9+ novel that’s both satisfying in its own right and a springboard to the original. Her introduction also touches briefly on the book’s treatment of mental health and people of colour; a subtle nudge to young readers to think critically, even as they “wallow in Charlotte Brontë’s gorgeous language”. (Imogen Russell Williams)

The Yorkshire Post interviews Tony Bowry, who emigrated to Leeds from St Kitts in 1965 at the age of 16.

What is your favourite walk or view?

I like to walk round the Wharfe at Bolton Abbey, especially in the winter when you see the remnants of the the snow. I also like walking in Haworth from the Brontë museum to the Brontë Falls which is only a trickle. (Guy Williams)