THE BRONTË SOCIETY ANNOUNCES NEW DIRECTOR.

The Brontë Society is pleased to announce the permanent appointment of Rebecca Yorke as Director of the Brontë Society and Brontë Parsonage Museum.  Rebecca, who first joined the Museum in early 2015 in a marketing and communications role, has been a member of the organisation’s senior management since 2016 and has held the post of Interim Director since June 2021.

Julian Sladdin, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said. “Following a rigorous internal recruitment process, we are delighted to appoint Rebecca to the role of Director of the Brontë Society and Brontë Parsonage Museum.  The Board continues to be impressed by Rebecca’s commitment to the organisation and is excited by her clear vision for both the Society and the Museum. We have every confidence that she will continue to steer our organisation to further success and look forward to working with her to ensure that as a museum and charity we are resilient, inclusive, forward-looking and relevant to future generations.”
 
On accepting the role, Rebecca said,  “I am thrilled to be appointed Director of the Brontë Society and Brontë Parsonage Museum, to have this opportunity to build on all that has been achieved in recent years and fulfil our mission of bringing the Brontës to the world and the world to Yorkshire.  It’s an exciting time to lead one of the country’s most-loved heritage organisations as we prepare to celebrate Bradford as UK City of Culture in 2025 and the Museum’s centenary in 2028 and I would like to thank the trustees for their faith in me,  and all my Parsonage colleagues for their continued commitment and support.” bronte.org.uk

The legacy within the Bronte Academy Trust of successful women, who lead and shape young children’s lives, is something we are extremely proud to continue to foster.

 

A PLAQUE has been unveiled in tribute to a Keighley-district pioneer.

The unveiling took place at Oldfield, where Margaret Wintringham was born.

Mrs Wintringham became the first-ever female Liberal MP in 1921 and was the first British woman to take a seat in parliament.

The Yorkshire Society blue plaque has been installed at Oldfield Primary School, where she taught.

James Travers – headteacher at Oldfield Primary, part of the Bronte Academy Trust – said: “We are thrilled to acknowledge that Margaret Wintringham was born here.

“The legacy within the Bronte Academy Trust of successful women, who lead and shape young children’s lives, is something we are extremely proud to continue to foster. Our namesake, the Bronte sisters, are testament to a long history of female accomplishment.” 

Whilst she may not be a household name, the plaque will serve as a testament to her place in history and as encouragement for the future. The ability to break down barriers is one of the most important things in our society and there are many we still need to overcome.”

 Read all the article: thetelegraphandargus

Over the last few years it has become increasingly apparent that something is rotten in the state of Haworth’s Brontë Society.

Here, you can read an article of Nick Holland:

annebronte/emily-bronte-lily-cole-and-the-shame-of-the-bronte-society

Please read it all on his blog, there is more to read.....

I cannot agree more

Over the last few years it has become increasingly apparent that something is rotten in the state of Haworth’s Brontë Society. Annual General Meetings have descended into open warfare between modernisers and traditionalists, but it seems now that the council is being run along the lines of BBC farce W1A. For the last two years or so, a consultancy has been advising the Brontë Society on what to do – with pathetic results.

The drive now is for one thing – attracting a young audience. Being trendy is the ultimate aim, with the Brontës themselves relegated to the sidelines. The museum has a wealth of Brontë treasures, but they are now favouring the display of artificial items they feel will appeal to a modern audience. For this reason rather than seeing Branwell’s items in his anniversary year, we see a mock up, TV style, guess of what his studio would have looked like.

In 2016, Charlotte’s year, a large display area was given up to a modern artwork of miniature pieces that had been fabricated in some sort of bizarre tributes – including a miniscule pair of shoes with a sign underneath saying that Charlotte had sewn them together using hair from her sisters. From what I heard at the time, and what I’ve seen shared on social media, many people believed these ridiculous items were authentic, when the fact was the authentic items were locked away in storage. The rot had set in.

The drive to attract younger members to the Brontë Society is a pointless one. We hear people say, echoing the consultants, that the membership is too old – ‘look at the events, look at the meetings, everyone is old!’ In today’s society it has become a crime to be old.

Where is the problem in the majority of members being middle aged or older? Yes they will eventually wither and fade from this world, but they will then be succeeded by another generation if middle aged and old society members. It is the way it always has been and always will be, unless they drive loyal members away, as they have done with me.

This is in no way a denigration of many of the brilliant staff at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, and their wonderful volunteers who give up their time not to attract a certain demographic but because of their passion for the Brontës. They are heroes, but it brings to mind the fate of our World War One soldiers who were lions led by donkeys.

I am obviously completely out of kilter with the Brontë Society and it’s aims, but I am afraid I shall stay in my old fashioned world where I can continue to gain immense pleasure from the words of Anne, Emily and Charlotte Brontë – and it is their words above all else that are their true museum and testimonial. I will certainly still continue to visit the Brontë Parsonage Museum, it is a place I love more than any other, but I can no longer continue to be a member of the Brontë Society whose leaders’ views are so opposed to my own. It’s best that I leave the society now, before they announce James Corden as the creative partner for 2019, a year in which Patrick Brontë is being remembered, and Rita Ora as organiser for Anne Brontë’s celebrations in 2020.

Brontë bicentenary: How the literary society is making a comeback from turmoil.

A year ago, the Brontë Society was riven by discord and in-fighting. But now David Barnett finds that the future is looking brighter in Haworth.

2015 saw a swathe of resignations from the society – Bonnie Greer, then the president, among them – and the following year’s AGM saw scenes of discord never before witnessed, as answers were demanded about just what was going to happen to the venerable society going forward. What happened was Kitty Wright.

“There was perhaps a lack of confidence,” says Wright. “A torpor when it came to planning for the future.” So what did she bring to the party? She smiles. “You might say, an Australian can-do attitude.” Originally from Perth, Western Australia, Wright arrived in Britain in 1999.

“I’m not saying I’m succeeding where others have failed, just that with no-one in this post for 18 months there was something of a leadership vacuum. I suppose if I’ve done anything I’ve tried to create a climate of permission, of optimism and energy.”

She is constantly talking about the hard work of the core management and administration team that is based with her in a few rooms at the back of the parsonage – even as executive director, she shares her office with three other people – and bursts with almost visible pride at the work they do there.

Last week the Brontë Society was named as a new member of a rather exclusive club when it became one of the Arts Council’s National Portfolio Organisations. What this means in real terms is funding of £930,000 over the next four years. Wright was the one who put in the bid, and there are big plans for the money.

The parsonage already attracts international visitors – a group of Japanese tourists are browsing the exhibits while I’m there – but Wright wants to get the word out with a much stronger online presence. She has a vision of an “augmented reality” website, digital maps, digitised texts from the stock of exhibits: in essence, making their online presence an extension of the physical museum rather than, as Wright calls it, “just an electronic brochure”.

Partnerships with other bodies and organisations to encourage more engagement from under-represented demographics is key to the five-year plan of the Brontë Society – be that schools, higher education establishments, or groups working with black and ethnic minority communities.
And there’s also a bricks-and-mortar aspect to the proposals. Wright looks out of her office window and points to a meadow, beyond the trees that border the the parsonage grounds.

“Up there is an underground reservoir,” she says. “It was fed by springs and was built after Patrick Brontë’s work on improving the sanitation in Haworth. We’re hoping to launch a fundraising campaign next year to create a centre for contemporary women’s writing there, a flexible space that could host events, exhibitions, be hired by creative people who want to write, hold classes…”
It’s an ambitious project, Wright knows – it’ll cost between £2.5 and £3m, depending on how easy or difficult it is to run utilities up to it, and that’s without taking into account actually getting planning permission… and what the rest of the members of the Brontë Society think about building on the land.

There’s another plan as well, which she says is merely “a glint in our eyes”. “Did you see To Walk Invisible? There was a barn in that, that used to stand just outside the parsonage. It would be fantastic to recreate that, make it a curatorial and research space, with an interpretive exhibition, perhaps…”

Read all the article: independent/bront-society-bicentenary-charlotte-haworth-kitty-wright-

Angry rows sour Judi Dench's Bronte Society yet again

After trying to put the simmering tensions between traditionalists and modernisers behind them, following a string of resignations that included president Bonnie Greer after last year’s AGM, the warring factions soon re-emerged at yesterday’s gathering in West Yorkshire.
The members of the world’s oldest literary society, whose new president is Dame Judi Dench, who was absent due to filming commitments, were stunned to be told another five guiding lights of the organisation had stepped down from the governing council since Christmas. In a further blow, staff from the Bronte Museum in Haworth, who had formed a senior management committee to help run the society because it was so light on trustees, have also quit. As a result they have handed management duties back to the council. Members have accused the council of acting like the Stasi in the way they have compiled lists of regulations for the society to make it more inclusive. A woman in the audience shouted: “When I read all these rules and regulations I felt like I had come into the Stasi. We need fresh air and openness.” New chairman John Thirlwell was clearly rattled as he tried to present his report to the meeting held in a Baptist Hall across the road from the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth. When interrupted by one member he snapped back: “I’m just trying to deliver my report, if that’s all right with you.” There were then furious exchanges as members fought to be heard over each other, with society bosses threatening to expel the protesters. Alexandra Lesley, who quit as chairman after only six months in the post, was determined to be heard, with a man supporting her screaming, “let her finish” over and over. Vice president Patsy Stoneman, who was chairing the meeting in Dame Judi’s absence, told the man: “If you continue in this manner I will ask you to leave the room. I’m in charge of this meeting.” Members were aghast at the sheer number of resignations and wanted to know why people had stepped down. They were unimpressed by the reply from the platform: “You will just have to ask them.” Member Richard Wilcox said: “I’m looking at this big swathe of resignations and wondering why is this? “Why have so many people resigned? It’s not entirely a mystery but can we have an explanation?” There were also cries that the new council had been elected to find a “harmonious way forward” but had instead “presided over a catastrophe”.
Mr Thirlwell said the resignations had been for a number of different reasons. He said: “It knocked us back but we rallied. I was very sorry indeed to see some of these people resign.” When it was found a journalist working for the Sunday Express, who is a member of the society, was present at the meeting a vote was held to exclude him. Treasurer the Rev Peter MayoSmith said his presence represented a “conflict of interests” and the meeting was private. Members voted 56 to 46 for him to stay. The Bronte Society was established in 1893 and opened its museum in 1895.
It is open to all those with an interest in the lives and works of the Bronte sisters, Emily, Anne and Charlotte. express/angry-rows-Bronte-Society

Poetry at the Parsonage festival of poetry and performance

On the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of July, in association with Word Club, the Brontë Society will be hosting its inaugural Poetry at the Parsonage festival of poetry and performance at the Brontë Parsonage Museum and nearby venues in Ha...worth, West Yorkshire. Acts will include Craig Bradley, Kate Fox, Helen Mort, James Nash, Winston Plowes, Genevieve Walsh and many, many more - showcasing the very best in contemporary poetry in Yorkshire. Marking the summer highpoint of our year-long celebrations to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), the festival will be free-to-enter and filled with fun and frolics for all the family - a fitting tribute to a poet who, together with her sisters and brother, did so much to elevate this vibrant artform

Dame Judi Dench accepts Bronte Society role

Dame Judi Dench has been appointed the new honorary president of the Bronte Society as it marks the bicentenary of Charlotte Bronte's birth. The actress, who appeared in the 2011 film of Bronte's Jane Eyre, said she was "delighted" to be offered the role. "It will be an honour to work with the society to promote [the Brontes'] legacy," continued the 81-year-old.  Chair John Thirlwell said the society was "thrilled" and could "think of no better person" to be its president. Dame Judi, who was born near York, will be officially voted in at the society's annual general meeting in June.

Her appointment follows a tumultuous period for the organisation and last year's resignation of its former president, Bonnie Greer. bbc./news

The Bronte Society was formed 122 years ago today!

 

Opening of the Haworth Parsonage Museum

 

In 1893 The Brontë Society was founded to organise a permanent home for these treasures, and to keep them together as a collection.

Even before Charlotte died in 1855 enthusiastic visitors were making their way to Haworth to spot the famous author around the village. Mr Brontë's Sunday afternoon congregations were sometimes swollen with sightseers, eager for a glimpse of his daughter, or, failing that, happy just hear her father preach.

Towards the end of the century, when cheaper editions of the novels appeared, and after Mrs Gaskell's 'Life of Charlotte Brontë' made popular the story of the three doomed and tragic sisters, interest in the Brontës boomed. Anyone who had known them was besieged with requests for anecdotes and souvenirs. Mr Brontë had died in 1861, at which point the Parsonage contents had been sold off and moved out. Many items had gone with Charlotte's husband Arthur Bell Nicholls to his new home in Ireland; others had been given to friends and servants as keepsakes. The sisters' manuscripts, letters and personal belongings began to appear in salerooms, and many fetched high prices on the American market.

 

In 1893 The Brontë Society was founded to organise a permanent home for these treasures, and to keep them together as a collection. The first Museum opened in 1895 above the Yorkshire Penny Bank on Haworth Main Street. The Society began to purchase Brontë treasures at auction, and many others were loaned or donated. By the following summer 10,000 visitors had passed through. In 1928 the Church put up for sale Haworth Parsonage at a price of £3000, and it was bought by Sir James Roberts, a Haworth-born wool merchant and lifetime Brontë Society member, who handed the Society the deeds. It was, of course, the perfect home for their collection.

 

The wealthy Philadelphia publisher Henry Houston Bonnell bequeathed to the Society his extensive collection of Brontë manuscripts, letters, first editions and personal effects, which arrived at the Museum upon his sudden death in 1926. From then on the Museum could boast the world's largest collection of Brontëana, and many subsequent bequests allowed them to bid successfully for Brontë items coming up for sale at auction. Today the Brontë Society is one of the world's oldest and most respected literary societies, with a worldwide membership of around 1500. bronte/bronte-society/history

From; bronte/bronte-society We are one of the oldest literary societies in the world, founded in 1893 and today we have a thriving worldwide membership. The Brontë Society is a charity and depends entirely on admissions and the generosity of members for its income. The Society is responsible for running the famous Brontë Parsonage Museum in the picturesque village of Haworth in West Yorkshire, once the home of the Brontë family and also for promoting the Brontës' literary legacy within contemporary society.

 

The Brontë collections at the Brontë Parsonage Museum are the largest and most important in the world and continue to inspire scholars, writers and artists. Our Contemporary Arts Programme includes literary events, exhibitions, artistic responses, a competition and festivals, and our lifelong learning programme enables us to reach students of all ages across the country.

 

Becoming a member of the Brontë Society supports our work especially as we approach the celebrations for the bicentenaries of Charlotte Brontë in 2016, Emily Brontë in 2018 and Anne Brontë in 2020. By joining today you will assist us maintain the legacy of this remarkable family whose novels remain as popular today as when they were first published in the first half of the nineteenth century. You can join online or when visiting the Brontë Parsonage Museum. members.bronte./Join-Online

 

“While this may be a very famous table, this is an awful lot of money for a piece of furniture" (verbatim)

This recent article in The Telegraph & Argus about the recent events at the Brontë Society quotes John Huxley, Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council chairman Councillor saying some very, very silly things:

“The society has become very remote and a little bit metropolitan literati," he warned.
“I don’t have any opinion about what is happening within the society, but it hasn’t been edifying to see it imploding. “As a council we'd like to be involved in trying to maximise the Brontë legacy in collaboration with the society. “But on one occasion when we called a meeting to discuss the tourist offering and invited the Brontë Society, they didn't show up." He said one example of the society’s “remoteness” was its purchase of the Brontë sisters’ writing table, using a grant of £580,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. He said this came at a time when the village had lost its fire station and was facing threats to its Treetops Children Centre and its Butt Lane community centre.
He said: “While this may be a very famous table, this is an awful lot of money for a piece of furniture."

There are so many things wrong with the words of Mr Huxley that it is hard to begin with something. Is this populist-demagogic approach to the role of the Parsonage what is to be expected from a Parish Council Chairman? Is he really so naive to think that the money given by the National Heritage Memorial  Fund could have been used for anything else but buying... National Heritage? And we are trying to remain calm about the 'metropolitan literati' bit as if that could be considered a sort of insult... The metropolitan literati are the reason behind the very existence of the Brontë tourism for God's sake!

bronteblog

 

Bonnie Greer resigns from floundering Brontë Society after months of infighting

The author Bonnie Greer has quoted Jane Eyre’s calm assertion that “I will be myself” in the wake of a dispute over the future of the Brontë Society that saw her resign from her position as president this weekend. The clash, which dates back to last summer, centres on how the organisation is being run, with one faction calling for the society, founded in 1893 and one of the oldest such literary groups in the world, to be modernised. It runs the Brontë Parsonage Museum, in the Yorkshire village of Haworth where the Brontë family once lived, and is also responsible for “promoting the Brontës’ literary legacy within contemporary society” . There are bicentenaries for Charlotte Brontë in 2016, told the Telegraph that trustees of the society “have become divorced from the local community”. He added: “They say they do not want to be seen as the snobs on the top of the hill, but they are. We have not enjoyed watching them implode. But the Brontë legacy is just bumbling on. It is not like the Stratford-upon-Avon and Shakespeare [organisations]. The society needs to get its act together.”

Emily Brontë in 2018 and Anne Brontë in 2020. But John Huxley, local parish council chairman,
At an annual general meeting on 6 June, where Greer used a Jimmy Choo shoe as a gavel to bring order – and, she later said, “levity” – to proceedings, a report by consultants on the society’s future recommended “draw[ing] a line under past conflict”, bringing in more committee members with museum management experience and healing the “growing rift” with the village, reported the Yorkshire Post. Read more on: theguardian/bonnie-greer-resigns-bronte-society-yorkshire

The Brontë Society has announced on its website the subject of the 2016 conference.

The Brontë Society is pleased to announce that the 2016 conference will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 19 – 21 August 2016 at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.   In 1837 Charlotte Brontë wrote to the Poet Laureate, Robert Southey, for advice on a literary career. He replied that ‘literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life: & it ought not to be’. Our conference in 2016, the first of the three Brontë bicentenaries, takes up the challenge of what might be the ‘proper business of a woman’s life’. The many facets of this subject present a wide range of possible papers both academic and literary, including:

Women’s position in English culture and society in the nineteenth century
Contemporary writing on ‘The Woman Question’
Charlotte Brontë’s own writings on the matter
Her relationship with other women writers
Her literary reputation
Her influence on later feminist movements.
The Keynote Speaker will be Jenny Uglow, OBE.

 The conference weekend will include an optional excursion to The Gaskell House, the home of Charlotte’s friend and biographer, Elizabeth Gaskell, which has recently been opened to the public.
Abstracts for papers (no more than 300 words) should be sent by 28 February, 2016, to:
The Conference Organiser, The Brontë Society
The Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, Keighley BD22 8DR
Successful speakers will be notified by 31 March, 2016.

A tumultuous year for the Brontë Parsonage Museum

Bad news from the Brontë Parsonage Museum as reported by The Yorkshire Post:
Managers at the Bronte Society are confident of boosting visitor admissions to the Parsonage Museum after new figures revealed they dipped to under 70,000 last year.
The year saw a seven per cent drop in admissions from 73,830 in 2013 to 69,503 during a tumultuous 12 months which saw the departure of several key people including director Ann Sumner.
However, the Society claimed the drop in visitors was caused by the late reopening of the Museum following the relocation of the admissions area. Russell Watson, honorary treasurer of the Society, who has written to members ahead of the annual meeting on June 6, said: “The operating income of the Society is heavily dependent on the number of visitors to the Parsonage Museum. In 2014 the Museum did not reopen until the third week in February due to the reconfiguration of the admissions area. “Visitor admissions started slowly after this late opening, although they picked up later in the year.” [...] Finance manager, Clare Dewhirst, is expecting visitors to increase as important bicentenaries approach. She said: “Although the 2014 accounts show a small decline in visitor numbers, this is largely attributable to the fact that we opened later than usual in 2014 due to the improvement and relocation of the admissions area. “Our general admissions income for the year exceeded budget, which was due in part to the increase in visitor participation in the Government Gift Aid scheme. “We look forward to welcoming more visitors to the Museum in the coming months and years ahead as we prepare for the bicentenaries of each of the Bronte siblings.” (Andrew Robinson)
bronteblog

I’m working to help diversify membership and bring on younger members - local, regional, national and international - who are all crucial to the future of the Brontë Society.”

 The Telegraph and Argus has an article on the goings-on within the ranks of the Brontë

Society.Campaigners pushing for the modernisation of the Brontë Society are standing for election to the organisation’s ruling council. The controversial campaign’s two leaders are among those responding to the society’s call for new blood to fill a ‘skills gap’ on the council. Success for John Thirlwell and Janice Lee could help drive through far-reaching changes to the way that both the literary society and Brontë Parsonage Museum is run.  Also standing for the ruling council is Haworth vicar, the Reverend Peter Mayo-Smith, who hopes the society will do more to attract tourists to the village.  The Haworth-based Brontë Society, which runs the museum, recently relaxed its rules governing council membership to help fill a shortfall in nominations.  It is understood that at least five of the 12 council members are due to stand down on the annual meeting in June.
Mr Thirlwell this week warned that whoever was elected, it was vital the new-look council responded to concerns raised by the modernisers.  He said key to this would be the findings of a review, currently being carried out, into the structure and governance of the Brontë Society.
Mr Thirlwell said: “The agreement was that we would see the report before going to the annual general meeting in June, so we can have some sensible debate about how the Brontë Society should operate. “The museum should be a separate entity with a trust running it. We’re hoping the review will give us a way to put a new structure in place. “We’ve had a lot of support from the people of Haworth saying ‘let’s get the society to work with local people, so that Haworth gains from this literary history’.” Mr Mayo-Smith, priest in charge at Haworth Parish Church, hopes to bring his past business experience to the council if he is elected.  He also believes Haworth is failing to the most of its tourism potential, and wants the Brontë Parsonage Museum to pack a “harder punch”.
A spokesman for the Brontë Society said a sufficient number of members had put their names forward by April 11, the deadline for nominations, and the aim was to ensure the council had the “best possible skill set”. The spokesman said membership numbers had risen since the beginning of the year.  Bonnie Greer, president of the Brontë Society: “It’s great that new members are coming forward to join council and we hope that any new members on the Brontë Society Council will continue the work and dedication of the present one.”  “I’m working to help diversify membership and bring on younger members - local, regional, national and international - who are all crucial to the future of the Brontë Society.” (David Knights)

An important press release by the Brontë Society. The first clues of what will be the 2016 Charlotte Brontë's bicentenary:

We often have visitors to the Museum who tell us that they were named after one of the
Brontë sisters, so we thought it would be fascinating to find women of all ages called
Charlotte who share her birthday.  We are asking Charlottes born on or near 21st April to
contact us at seekingcharlotte@bronte.org.uk so that we can invite them to share our
celebrations in 2016.”

To support the bicentenary programme, the Society is developing a dedicated website
www.bronte200.org which will serve as a hub for all events and activities connected to the
programme and a Brontë200 logo which will be available for use by other organisations
wishing to celebrate the bicentenaries.
Read all:
Brontë 200

Parsonage needs to pack a “harder punch”

The Yorkshire Post resumes the story of the Brontë Society's inner debate.

A film-maker and a retired deputy headteacher are planning to help “modernise” a Yorkshire literary society by taking on unpaid leadership roles - just six months after they were branded “agitators”.
John Thirlwell, a film producer/director, and Janice Lee, a former deputy head, are seeking election to the ruling council of the Brontë Society.The pair, who both live in Yorkshire, hit the headlines last year when they and 50 disgruntled members forced an extraordinary general meeting of the Society after claiming it had “lost its way” In September they called on the ruling council to step aside “to bring greater levels of professionalism and experience to the Society.""They said the Society needed fresh, modernising leadership to replace those who were “micro-managing” the Brontë Parsonage Museum, owned by the Society. In October they were criticised by outgoing chairman Christine Went as “agitators” who were “behaving irresponsibly” in seeking power for themselves.
Six months later Mr Thirlwell and Mrs Lee are seeking election to the ruling council. It is understood that at least five of the 12 council members are due to stand down at the annual meeting in June.
And it now emerged that the Brontë Society was so worried about a lack of Council nominees that it took legal advice on relaxing the rules to allow people to stand after being members for less than two years. A message to members on April 2 said “exceptional circumstances” had arisen as “an insufficient number of nominations have been received and a skills gap has been identified.”
The message added: “If this situation is left unaddressed and further nominations are not received, this would mean that the minimum number of trustees would not be reached which would lead to a breach of the charity’s articles which must be avoided if at all possible.” Mr Thirlwell said that, if elected, he wanted to “support innovation” in telling the Brontë story. “We have a fantastic story but maybe we are missing out some of the newer ways of telling it.” Also standing is Peter Mayo-Smith, priest in charge at Haworth Parish Church, who has a background in business and believes Haworth is failing to make the most of its tourism potential. “The more tourists we have, the greater the income it generates for the area. An awful lot of my parishioners get their income through tourism.”
He said Parsonage needed to pack a “harder punch”. Opening up nominations to newer members would “throw up a lot more talent,” he believes. A spokeswoman for the Brontë Society said a sufficient number of members had put their names forward by Saturday April 11, the deadline for nominations. “Relaxing the two year membership rule allows the Society to ensure Council has the best possible skill set,” she added. “It has been done before, even as recently as 2012 and this was the reason for the extension in this instance.” The spokeswoman said membership numbers had risen since the beginning of the year “and we expect this trend to continue as we move towards the bicentenaries next year.” Bonnie Greer, President of the Brontë Society: “It’s great that new members are coming forward to join Council and we hope that any new members on the Brontë Society Council will continue the work and dedication of the present one.”m She said the Council “saw the need to refresh its skill base.” Ms Greer added: “I’m working to help diversify membership and bring on younger members
. bronteblog

Brontë Society Gazette. Issue 65

Letter from the Editor by Belinda Hakes and Helen Krispien
Brontë Society Conference 2014 by Julie Akhurst
Report from the Leadership Team at the Brontë Parsonage Museum
Brontë Society Literary Lunch. Saturday 11 October 2014 by Kathleen Shortt
Bernard Herrmann returns to Haworth by Charissa E. Hutchins
"The Death of Keeldar" by Kathleen Shortt, Representative of the Brontë Society Scottish Branch
Secrets and spies at Brussels Brontë talk on Villette by Emily Waterfield, Brussels Brontë Group
Membership News: New developments; Improving communication.
Emily Brontë writes a Critical Thinking Exercise from When Critical Thinking Met English Literature by Belinda Hakes.Brontë Society Gazette. Issue 65

The Bronte Society

The Bronte Society

The Bronte Society would like to say a very big thank you for the wonderful response to our appeal for second-hand Bronte novels to send to pupils at Khemisti Middle School in Algeria. Such was the generosity of our members that we were able to send several copies of each of the seven novels, together with an edition of Emily's poetry and a copy of Gaskell's biography of Charlotte.

Efforts of the Brontë Society president to improve links with Haworth community

Keighley News reports the efforts of the Brontë Society president to improve links with Haworth community:

Brontë Society president Bonnie Greer’s latest efforts to improve links with the Haworth community have been welcomed by the parish council chairman.  Cllr John Huxley said he hoped the moves would benefit both the Brontë Parsonage Museum – which the society runs – and other organisations in the village.  He welcomed Ms Greer’s call for Haworth residents who were members of the Brontë Society to stand for voluntary posts on its ruling council. He said: “I applaud the society for opening doors to that sort of opportunity. I know there are people in the village who are interested in the Brontës.”
Ms Greer had invited nominations for council vacancies from people with skills in tourism/visitor attractions, press/journalism/marketing, IT/digital technology, and publishing.  Cllr Huxley said: “There are people in the village who possess those skills. There’s no reason why they can’t join. “I welcome that the Brontë Society recognises the local community has a part to play in maintaining the Brontë heritage.” Cllr Huxley was delighted that museum’s new operations manager was actively recruiting local people for a committee which would organise events to celebrate the 200th anniversaries of the Brontë sisters’ births.  He was also pleased that museum representatives were again attending tourism group Brontë Partnership. He said their expertise would be invaluable on other committees discussing Haworth issues.  He added: “That’s the sort of thing we want – to see the Brontë Society branching out.” Ms Greer made her rallying call to Haworth residents in a New Year address to members following a difficult year for the society, which saw wrangles over the organisation’s future direction and departures of leading figures.  She told members: “We must bring our membership age down in order to ensure that our beloved Society and Museum continue into the 21st century.” (David Knights)

Bonnie Greer

The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is delighted to announce the appointment of Bonnie Greer OBE to its Board of Directors for a one-year term. Award-winning playwright, author, critic and teacher Bonnie Greer brings a wealth of experience of writing and the arts to her new role on the ALCS Board. Among her stated aims are to help the new generation of writers to understand intellectual property and what it means in the internet age; more inclusion from all communities in the business of writers and writing, including policy making; and the promotion of ALCS as the "go to organisation" for these aims. Commenting on her appointment as a Non-Executive Director, Bonnie says:

"I'm delighted to be joining the Board of ALCS. We are in the midst of the greatest change to the dissemination of the written word since the Age of Guttenberg. We have to make sure that the new generation of writers understands that what they write must ,and should be protected and allowed to benefit not only others, but themselves. This protection is one of the ways to preserve the unique voice of every writer and what will save and develop that unique human characteristic which distinguishes us from other species."  Read more: prnewswire/bonnie-greer

Haworth villagers for Council

Bonnie Greer continues her 'campaign' to make the people of Haworth feel included in the Brontë Society. As the Yorkshire Post reports,

Brontë Society president Bonnie Greer has called for local people in Haworth to consider running for leadership roles in the literary group. In a new year address sent to members following a turbulent year, Ms Greer said she wants to see Society members who live in the village to stand for election for voluntary posts on the Society’s Council. The American-born writer said: “We must engage even more with Haworth and we’re lucky and unique to be situated in a living and thriving village. I would recommend, for example, that villagers stand for Council. “We must bring our membership age down in order to ensure that our beloved Society and Museum continue into the 21st century.”
Her comments follow months of turmoil which saw angry exchanges between Society members and the sudden departures of its executive director and chairman. During the internal wrangling, critics called for Haworth’s Parsonage Museum to be run by a Trust rather than the Society’s council.
Ms Greer told members: “Personally I don’t want to see the Society become a Trust, separating the Museum from the members. The Museum belongs to you, and I will support your right to keep it and have it taken care of by a Council elected by you, the Members.” She said “grievances” aired by some members last year had led to a “rather expensive” extraordinary general meeting in October.
She added: “Council and staff have done everything possible to alleviate reputational damage and to ensure the business of the Society and Museum has not lost momentum.” Her letter contains nomination papers for election to the Council. The Society is seeking to fill the posts of three honorary officers, who are standing down, and at least one other post. Ballot results will be declared on June 6. The Society is keen to receive nominations from people with skills in tourism/visitor attractions, press/journalism/marketing, IT/digital technology and publishing. (Andrew Robinson) bronteblog/haworth-villagers-for-council