Conference a Sell Out!

Places on the conference are now fully booked but if you've not been able to reserve yours, you can still sign up to the waiting list via Eventbrite: http://bronterevision.eventbrite.co.uk/.

Preview: Wildness Between Lines

Wildness Between Lines
An exhibition of work inspired by the Brontës.

Opening:
14 December  2012 - 2 February 2013
Monday - Saturday 10am - 4pm

Preview:
Thursday 13th December 5 - 7pm

Leeds College of Art
Blenheim Walk
Leeds
LS2 9AQ

Click here to see some of the artworks that will be on display.

Write like the Brontës! - Workshop at Leeds Central Library

For those of you interested in learning about how Brontës created their miniature books, join award-winning writer Char March for this fun and fast-paced writing workshop on Saturday 8 December 2-4pm, Exhibition space, Central Library, Leeds.

Char will explain how and why the Brontë sisters wrote their tiny little books in miniature writing, and give you lots of inspiration for writing your very own little book of secrets, which you can take away afterwards. Come for the full two-hours, or just drop by for 20 mins. Families welcome – as well as all the adults out there dying to write in really tiny writing! To book your free place, call Enquiry Express on 0113 2476016.

This workshop will run as part of the Writing Britain: Leeds exhibition (4 December 2012 - 30 January 2013), which celebrates the use of the Yorkshire landscape in literature. For further information, please visit:

http://www.visitleeds.co.uk/thedms.aspx?dms=13&feature=1001&venue=2192070

Wildness Between Lines

The exhibition Wildness Between Lines acts as an inspiration to the ideas shared at the Re-Visioning the Brontës conference. Taking place at Leeds College of Art, this display will provide visitors with the chance to encounter a range of art works by emerging and established artists who have responded creatively to the lasting influence of the Brontës and their work. Here, we are pleased to present a preview of works included in the show.

Catherine Bertola
Residual hauntings
2011
Triptych of photographic prints

Photo: Simon Warner
Courtesy the artist, Workplace Gallery and Galerie M+R Fricke

Rebecca Chesney
A sorrowful sight i saw; dark night coming down prematurely, and sky and hills, mingled in one bitter whirl of wind and suffocating snow.
Pencil on graph paper 2012.
Photo: Courtesy the artist


Su Blackwell
Gondal (Haworth Church)
2010
Photo: Courtesy the artist


An opportunity to experience this exhibition with accompanying wine reception will directly follow the closing of the conference on January 29th 2013. To book your free place, please visit http://bronterevision.eventbrite.co.uk.

Conference Abstracts Now Available To View Online

Re-Visioning the Brontës will take place on January 29th 2013 at the University of Leeds. To book your free place, please visit http://bronterevision.eventbrite.co.uk/.

The day will include a series of papers examining multiple adaptations and interpretations of the Brontës' lives and works, alongside a specialist presentation on the Brontë Manuscript collection, and discussions between leading academics and writers on the various creative contributions to the Brontë legacy that have emerged since their first publications.

The selected abstracts are now available to view through Google Drive:

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B5JngjcTR2kXaHRKY2plemg5UXc/edit

Many thanks to our speakers for allowing us to provide online access to their proposals.

Brontë Sisters Power Dolls!

Here at Re-visioning the Brontës HQ, we'd love to get our hands on these awesome Brontë action figures. Unfortunately, the toys depicted in this advertisement by Phil Lord and Chris Miller aren't actually in production. Still, along with making us chuckle, this action packed approach to the sisters' literary legacy gives us some food for thought concerning how the Brontës may be marketed to future generations.

Themes in Wuthering Heights Book Covers

Locating a single image to covey the complexities of Wuthering Heights is perhaps an impossible task. Yet, the subtle art of book cover design has created many, sometimes surprising, responses to Emily Brontës well known novel. In anticipation of our upcoming conference, we have selected just some of these covers to examine how the book's themes of love, revenge, family, and identity, have been envisioned by publishers over time.

Cathy
The heroine of Wuthering Heights, Catherine Earnshaw, is famously torn between the forces of nature and culture, symbolised in her contrasting love for Heathcliff and Edgar. Several book covers featuring Cathy have attempted to capture the character's torment.

Heathcliff

The character of Heathcliff is a profoundly difficult creation to assess. His deep devotion to Cathy is central to the book's narrative of obsession, and eventually drives him to the point of madness. Equally, his charisma, capacity for self-invention, and desire to reap revenge are central to his story. Many of these book covers seem fittingly mysterious in their portrayal of the complicated literary figure. 

 

Love

Cathy famously identifies two versions of love when choosing to marry Edgar over Heathcliff. Although commonly known as a romance novel, the actuality of Wuthering Height's depictions express various dimensions beyond typical romance, from marriages of convenience to dangerous obsession. Perhaps as a result of the mythology that has grown around Cathy and Heathcliff, some book covers seem to overlook the complexity of relationships expressed in the story.

The Moors

The forming of the Yorkshire moors as a character unto itself is widely considered to be one of Emily's most inspired literary techniques. As the deeply atmospheric setting of Wuthering Heights, the wild and unpredictable countryside provides a fitting backdrop to the shifting nature of the character's relationships. The novel's remarkably descriptive landscape continues to provide readers with rich and memorable mental imagery, making it a common choice for book cover designs. 

If you would like to share your thoughts regarding this post, please do not hesitate to comment below. To register for the Re-visioning the Brontës conference at Leeds University, please visit http://bronterevision.eventbrite.co.uk. 

We do not own any of these images, but use this selection of book covers for academic purposes only. If there are any issues arising from their publication on this blog please contact bronte.revision@gmail.com.