Girl writers taught to follow in the footsteps of the Brontes in Haworth

Teenage girls spent a day honing their craft in Haworth with guidance from Liz Flanagan, who wrote the young adult novel, Eden Summer.

They were among budding poets and novelists of all ages who attended workshops and talks during the weekend, organised by the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

The workshop for girls aged 12 to 16, entitled Stepping Into The Sisters’ Shoes, drew inspiration from Emily, Charlotte and Anne Brontë, as well as from objects in their former home.

Liz said: “The quality of the writing from the girls took my breath away – it was accomplished, atmospheric and compelling. 

“I thoroughly enjoyed running the workshop and feel strongly that these young writers are part of a tradition of writers from this corner of the world.”

The Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing each year features professional authors inspired by the work of Charlotte, Emily and Anne more than a century ago.

Lauren Livesey, the Brontë museum’s audience development officer, said everyone who attended or participated in this year’s festival thoroughly enjoyed it. 

She said: “The range of events, aimed at writers as well as readers and Brontë enthusiasts, went down well with our audiences and it seems everyone went away feeling inspired. 

“It was also the first time we’d run a writing workshop for teenage girls. It was very successful and we look forward to running similar events in the future.”

The three-day festival began in the Cobbles and Clay cafe in Main Street, Haworth, with Getting Yourself Out There, a workshop showing would-be authors how to self-publish and self-promote their work.

Academic Laurie Garrison and novelists Sarah Dunnakey, Jane Davis and Helen Taylor spoke about alternative methods of publishing, including online and crowdfunding.

Adapting The Brontës was led by bestselling novelist, Rachel Joyce, and playwright, Deborah McAndrew, who looked at stage, TV and film adaptations of books like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall.

The headline event on the Saturday evening was a talk by Sarah Perry about her bestselling novel, The Essex Serpent.

Sarah, who has a PHD in creative writing from Royal Holloway, has been the writer in residence at Gladstone’s Library and the UNESCO World City of Literature Writer in Residence in Prague.

Deborah McAndrew returned on the Sunday to lead a workshop about Writing For Stage, at the atmospheric Ponden Hall in Stanbury, reputedly the real-life buildings fictionalised in Wuthering Heights.

Rachel Joyce also taught a workshop at Ponden Hall entitled Writing For Radio.