An alert from the Ilkley Literature Festival: Saturday 10th October, 11:00 am Ilkley Grammar School, Cowpasture Rd, Ilkley LS29 8TR, United Kingdom
Join us for a book group discussion led by writer and Programme Manager at First Story Naomi Frisby on the gothic masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Read the book, talk about it with your friends or your regular book group, then come to this Saturday morning session to share your thoughts with other booklovers.
SHE She lives on a moor in the north. She lives alone. Spring opens like a blade there. I travel all day on trains and bring a lot of books—
some for my mother, some for me including The Collected Works Of Emily Brontë. This is my favourite author.
Also my main fear, which I mean to confront. Whenever I visit my mother I feel I am turning into Emily Brontë,
my lonely life around me like a moor, my ungainly body stumping over the mud flats with a look of transformation that dies when I come in the kitchen door. What meat is it, Emily, we need?
Our congratulations to Anne Carson, winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. 'The Glass Essay' is full of references to Emily Brontë like the above.
CBC has a 'crash course in Anne Carson' which mentions 'The Glass Essay': Glass, Irony and God, Carson's 1995 book, features the celebrated poem The Glass Essay, which is more than 30 pages long and tells the story of a love affair coming to an end through a reading of Emily Brontë's poetry. In the Nobel Prize ceremony, it was praised by the Swedish Academy for demonstrating "the potential of the long poem where genre boundaries are seen to blur." (Talia Kliot)
We wish this contributor to The New York Times would have used the proper spelling of Brontë: Glass, Irony & God (1995) This collection of three narrative poems contains “The Glass Essay,” a 36-page epic that interweaves the end of a romantic relationship with musings on Emily Brönte, whom Carson describes as a perpetual “whacher” — a deliberate misspelling — who constantly observes the English moors that inspired her novel “Wuthering Heights.” In Brönte, Carson finds kinship and a means of verbalizing her heartbreak. The author Anthony Doerr has referred to “The Glass Essay” as his favorite poem, writing that “it feels to me like a thousand floodlights switching on.” (Ash Wu)
The 1990s brought some of her most celebrated work. "The Glass Essay," from Glass, Irony, and God (1995), shows what the long poem can do when genre lines blur. It is a verse narrative about grief and unrequited love. A woman abandoned by her husband travels to see her lonely mother on the moors, carrying the works of her favourite writer, Emily Brontë. Brontë's moorland and inner life are woven through the text, and the poem becomes at once a reading of Brontë and an essay on abandonment.
"You remember too much, my mother said to me recently. Why hold onto all that? And I said, Where can I put it down?" This quote is from the long, lyrical poem "The Glass Essay" published in Anne Carson's 1995 collection "Glass, Irony and God" — an entry point into the works of the 2026 Nobel Prize for Literature laureate. In the poem, the narrator explores the burden of memory and obsessive desire after a failed love affair, all while regularly reflecting on Emily Brontë — an author renowned for her intense literary depiction of destructive and passionate love in "Wuthering Heights." (Elizabeth Grenier)
WAPT quotes what Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel Literature Committee, had to say about her work: Carson's wide-ranging influences, from the ancient Greeks to John Keats, Virginia Woolf and Emily Bronte, lead "to playful and ironic works that move not only between classical and modern poetry but also between different genres and art forms," Olsson said. (Pontus Lundahl)
Among the works highlighted by the Nobel Committee was The Glass Essay (1995), a long poem about a woman recovering from a failed relationship who visits her mother in the moorlands, bringing with her the writings of Emily Bronte. Olsson said the work demonstrated Carson's ability to combine poetry, storytelling and literary criticism, with the narrator's experiences becoming entwined with those of her mother and Bronte. “The poetry needs the story, and the story is in turn given energy by the leaps and scene shifts of poetry,” he said. (William Mullally)
La Gaceta (Argentina) highlights some translated poems of hers, including the one with which we began this post.
The Economist comments on the fact that Jane Eyre is now a mandatory read for teenagers in China. “Reader, I married him,” opens the last chapter of “Jane Eyre”. That famous line is music to Chinese officials’ ears. Since September the Victorian-era Bildungsroman by Charlotte Brontë has become compulsory reading for every Chinese student in secondary school. The government happens to be keen to boost marriage rates and babymaking, and worries about women’s rising demand for divorces. The independent-minded heroine, Ms Eyre, who rejects two proposals before ultimately marrying and bearing a son, has a thing or two to teach young Chinese, the Communist Party thinks. By some estimates, China’s population of 1.4bn could be 250m lower by 2050. So the party, having once imposed strict limits on births, is now intensifying efforts to build a “birth-friendly society”. It isn’t doing well. In the first half of 2026 marriage rates fell by 7.5%, while divorce rates climbed by 3.9%. Last year births were at a historic low: less than half the number a decade earlier. In June the government launched a two-month campaign to crack down on microdramas that promote “money worship” and “distorted marriage values”. The wildly popular short videos often tell absurd or fantastical stories, including the popular genre of badao zongcai which involve domineering CEOs who sweep poor women off their feet (this type particularly appeals to those who think social mobility is becoming much harder in China). So why promote “Jane Eyre”? Some commenters on social media call it a prototype of badao zongcai. In the book, Ms Eyre, a governess from a poor background, captures the heart of her wealthy employer, Edward Rochester. His imperious, moody air fits that of the short-videos’ stereotype CEO. But a recent column in Beijing Daily, an official newspaper, makes the point clear: “Jane believes that love should be built on spiritual equality rather than social status, wealth or appearance. Only when two people truly love one another can they attain genuine happiness.” Some parents object to students in their mid-teens having to study a book so centred on love, Beijing Daily admits. But “Jane Eyre” is deeply ingrained in China’s literary consciousness: the first translation appeared in 1917. An adaptation of it was among the first Western films shown in China after the death of Mao in 1976. President Xi Jinping mentioned the book in 2015 during a visit to Britain. A musical version was performed in Beijing this week. Ms Eyre seemed feisty to Victorians. But she is a far cry from feminists in China today whom Mr Xi sees as a threat to procreation.
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys Antoinette Cosway is a Creole heiress living in 19th-century Jamaica. After Antoinette’s brother dies in a house fire, grief drives their mother mad, and Antoinette is left alone to face a hostile world. An arranged marriage brings her under the control of the cruel and capricious Mr. Rochester who renames her Bertha, isolates her from the outside world and eventually takes her to his native England, where a dark future awaits. Published in 1966, “Wide Sargasso Sea” is a classic in its own right, bringing immense humanity and empathy to the “madwoman in the attic” of Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre.” Here's how Bright Lights begins a review of A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of the Movies by David Thomson. For as long as film has been around, people have been anxious about what it can do. To understand this anxiety, look to literature: a medium we have been anxious about for a much longer time. In The Republic, Plato cautions that “the tales which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts. . . . A young person cannot judge what is allegorical and what is literal.” Over two thousand years later, Charlotte Brontë wrote a similar warning beside Shakespeare and Byron’s names on her list of recommended reading for a friend. “Don’t be startled at the names,” she cautioned Ellen Nussey. “You will know how to choose the good, and to avoid the evil.” But should she get waylaid, Brontë discouraged her from reading the comedies. In her own folios, she tore them out. Notice her precision: read Shakespeare, but skip the comedies. She is familiar with what she critiques. To decide what not to read, one must first know what is in those books – and then, having done so, decide whether or not to put them down. (Iris Chen)
MovieWeb highlights the '7 most divisive movies of 2026' and one of them is 'Wuthering Heights' The Adaptation Was Accused of Turning a Dark Story Into a Traditional Romance Why Wuthering Heights Was Divisive: From the second news broke that Jacob Elordi was cast as Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights was accused of whitewashing its lead character. With each new piece of promotional material, it became clear that director Emerald Fennell's take on Wuthering Heights would differ significantly from the original source material, opting for a more straightforward forbidden romance that forgoes the book's traditional ending. This earned the film criticism at release, but Wuthering Heights has so far proved to be the biggest hit of WB's 2026 slate, making a reported profit of $40 million (via Variety). Why It's Worth Watching: The criticism that Wuthering Heights isn't a faithful adaptation of the book is valid, but no film adaptation has chosen to depict the book's second half, so that fault is not exclusive to the 2026 version. There is something magical about seeing a female filmmaker be given the freedom and budget by a studio to turn a deeply personal passion project into a major studio production. In the end, Wuthering Heights is a gorgeous film in terms of production design and cinematography, with a fantastic set of original songs by Charlie [sic] XCX. (Richard Fink)
Today, October 9, an amateur production of Emily Brontë, Teenage Necromancer, opens in Sequim, WA:
Written by Don Zolidis October 9th - 25th Olympic Theatre Arts 414 N Sequim Ave Sequim, WA 98382 US
1835. Northern England. The moors. A terrifying phantom has appeared at the Roe Head School for Girls, terrorizing its students and driving the school near to extinction. It’s up to star pupil Emily Brontë, and her sisters Anne and Charlotte, to discern the true nature of the haunting, using their unique talents—which happen to include necromancy. A gothic, hilarious ride through English literature that needs magic, ghosts, and fog; featuring an undead goose, a lovesick ghost, and a talking meat pudding.
The Bookseller reports that Ravena Guron is going to write a murder-mystery retelling of Jane Eyre.Author of YA murder-mysteries including This Book Kills, and YA Book Prize and Nibbie shortlistee Ravena Guron is to pen a murder-mystery retelling of Jane Eyre, after being approached with the idea by Scholastic. (Maia Snow) Later today, the Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced, and Dutch News thinks that The Song of Stork and Dromedary author Anjet Daanje is a serious contender. Novelist Anjet Daanje has been tipped as a serious contender for the Nobel prize in literature and, from her 2022 work The Song of Stork and Dromedary, for very good reason. Published in Dutch as Het lied van ooievaar en dromedaris, the book is loosely based on the life of Emily Brontë, the author of Wuthering Heights. The work opens in 1847, with a villager laying out the body of Eliza May Drayden, who, like Brontë, has written a book widely derided at the time it was published but would go on to become a classic. The opening scene is tinged with the Gothic horror of Wuthering Heights, Drayden’s eyes refuse to close for her burial. The next 650 pages follow 11 interconnect stories that orbit around Drayden, and her sister Millicent, the fictionalised Charlotte Brontë who authored of Jane Eyre. Similar again to Wuthering Heights, all are largely set on the moors in England, though the final story takes the reader to the Daanje’s hometown of Groningen. Rather than a traditional narrative, the book is written like an expansive biography, incorporating news articles, excerpts from diaries, letters, citations from fictional biographies and even parts of Drayden’s novel. Each of the tales could be novellas in their own right, vivid and sometimes nail-biting, sending the reader off on tangents such as the mistreatment of two half-German sisters during the Second World War, or a pair of French half-sisters whose shared father creates a wedge between them. The nature of sisterhood and the relationship between various female characters is one of the central themes of The Song of Stork and Dromedary. The work also reflects on the status of women at different times across the novel’s 200-year span. Death is another important theme. Drayden’s death, with which the book opens, is an event that brings characters together but also tears them apart. [...] The Song of Stork and Dromedary took home both the Boekenbon Literature Prize and the Libris Literature Prize, the first book to ever net both awards. It was named the Best Book of the Century by the NRC newspaper. The English translation was published this year. In 2023, Daanje was awarded the Constantijn Huygens Prize for her oeuvre. The book was translated by David McKay, who also translated War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans and Multatuli’s Max Havelaar. He renders the complicated work thoughtfully, retaining Daanje’s character. The Song of Stork and Dromedary is compelling and brilliant, and the author is worthy of the highest honour in literature. (Molly Quell)
Country & Town House lists '10 Of The Best Period Dramas To Stream Now On BBC iPlayer,' and one of them is Jane Eyre (2006) Few novels have done more for the gothic imagination than Brontë’s Jane Eyre. The 2006 adaptation leans into all the familiar pleasures of Brontë’s world, from a remote country house, its brooding master and coincidentally love interest and a dark past hidden behind closed doors. Ruth Wilson brings a sharp intelligence to Jane, while Toby Stephens gives Rochester enough danger to keep their romance from becoming too comfortable. Dark and emotionally charged, this is a Jane Eyre that understands the gothic works best. (Naina Zilbermints)
After a windier road than expected, Paramount and Warner are now one, under the banner of Skydance, and the film industry is set for a shake-up [...] That’s where executives like the departed De Luca and Abdy would have come in handy. Their tenure at Warner was characterized by both risks and variety befitting one of Hollywood’s most recognizable and prestigious movie studios. They greenlit two beloved smash-hit horror movies with Sinners and Weapons. The studio won a best picture Oscar – their first in over a decade – with Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. They let indie talents play in a big-studio sandbox with movies like Wuthering Heights and The End of Oak Street. Even their franchise films, like the Dune sequels, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Superman had the clear creative imprint of individual creators. (Jesse Hassenger)
Your favourite literary character? Jane Eyre because she insists the world doesn’t belong to the rich, beautiful and well connected: “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?” She reverses traditional gender roles and ends up rescuing Mr Rochester (I’d have left him to fester).
A contributor to The Bull & Bear reminisces about going to see Wuthering Heights 2026 on Valentine's Day (spoiler alert: she didn't like it). A contributor to Inside Times reports that Wuthering Heights has been banned--along with other classic novels--from prison.
An alert from the Brontë Parsonage Museum:
Thursday 8 October 2pm, Brontë Space at the Old School Room 7:30pm, On Zoom
In this talk, we will look at some of the other men - including friends, neighbours, colleagues and teachers - who helped shape the lives, works and legacy of the Brontë family. October’s Thursday Talk will be delivered by teacher and Museum volunteer, Peter Lodge.
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