BESTSELLING writer Kate Mosse is joining the existing roster of big names celebrating Emily Brontë’s 200 birthday.

Poet Patience Agbabi, activist and model Lily Cole and musicians The Unthanks are already involved in events this year to mark the bicentennial.

But for the big bash to mark the actual birthday, the Brontë Society has added the writer of novels like Labyrinth.

High-profile figures from literature and contemporary culture will descend on Haworth for a four-day festival in and around the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

Between July 27 and 30 there will be a series of performances, film, walks and new commissions from in the-days leading up to Emily’s actual birthday, Monday, July 30.

Kitty Wright, executive director of the Brontë Society, said: “It’s impossible to say exactly what it is about Emily Brontë that captures the imagination and heart of so many people so long after she lived and died.

“Emily is perhaps the Brontë sibling most associated with the dramatic, bleak and beautiful moorland surrounding their home, and as such her birthday will be marked by guided walks and outdoor sketching workshops as well as poetry performances, literary discussions and free activities for all the family.

“We look forward to sharing Emily’s executive director of the Brontë Society, legacy with international audiences old and new.”

Visit bronte.org.uk or call 01535 642323 for further information about the July 27-30 events and how to book tickets.

Kate Mosse OBE has curated I Am Heathcliff, a new commission of 16 short stories about the anti-hero of Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights.

The anthology, which re-examining is the unforgettable and polarising character, will be launched in Haworth on July 27.

Poet and performer Patience Agbabi is due to present new work created during her time as 2018 Writer in Residence at the Brontë Parsonage Museum this September.

During the 200th birthday weekend, on July 28, she will be joined by other wordsmiths to respond to themes of the outsider and identity raised in Emily’s writing through readings and performance poetry. The event is entitled. This, That, and ‘The Other’.

Making Your Mark Online is the title of two workshops for burgeoning writers on July 28 and 29, led by Brontë Society Young Ambassador, book blogger, booktuber and Brontë aficionado Lucy Powrie.

Blogging since the age of 12, Lucy will discuss how and why she started writing and why she considers Emily Brontë to be a relevant inspiration for young people today.

Lily Cole, the Brontë Society’s creative partner for 2018, will present the world premiere of her latest film ‘Balls’ on July 29 at the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

The short film will examine the stories of young, unmarried mothers and the babies they gave up to the Foundling Hospital in the 19th century, the inspiration for Emily’s foundling anti-hero Heathcliff.

Cole, with co-writer Stacey Gregg (‘Riviera’, ‘The Innocents’), has taken two personal accounts from the original hospital records and transposed them into the present day.

The resulting film, shot entirely in location in Liverpool, emphasises the dramatic changes seen in women’s rights over the last 200 years.

Balls was created with the Foundling Museum, London, and will be exhibited throughout the year at both venues, which will also display relevant objects from the other’s collection offering a broader insight into the story so inspirational to Cole and others.

The Foundling Museum explores the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity and first public art gallery.

Its programme of exhibitions and events celebrates the ways in which artists of all disciplines have helped improve children’s lives for over 275 years. www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk

Marking Emily’s actual birthday will be two events paying pay tribute to the woman and her work, through her own words and those of her devotees.

On July 30, they are entitled Emily Speaks and What Emily Means To Us.

An afternoon of readings offers personal responses to Emily’s independence and self-determination in relation to the broader racial, cultural and social histories of the 19th century.

The day culminates in a celebration with live readings from Lily Cole, Patience Agbabi and a performance from The Unthanks, who themselves will be marking the bicentenary later in 2018 with new, specifically commissioned work.

Kate Mosse is the author of six novels and short story collections, including the multi-million selling Languedoc Trilogy - Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel - and bestselling Gothic fiction including The Winter Ghosts and The Taxidermist’s Daughter.

Her books have been translated into 37 languages and published in more than 40 countries. She has also written three works of non-fiction, four players, and her documentary on the writer and classicist Helen Waddell will be broadcast by the BBC in 2018.

A champion of women’s creativity, Kate is the Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction - the largest annual celebration of women’s writing in the world - and sits on the Executive Committee of Women of the World.

She was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to literature and women and was named Woman of the Year for her service to the arts in the Everywoman Awards.

Lily Cole, who first achieved fame as a model, spends her time on art and activism. As an advocate for socio-political and environmental issues, Lily has employed technology, writing, filmmaking and public speaking as means to build awareness and encourage dialogue.

Lily was awarded a First Class BA in History of Art from Cambridge University in 2011. In 2013 she co-founded Impossible.com a technology company that uses technology to solve social and environmental problems. Lily has spoken at Davos, Google’s Zeitgeist, Wired and Web Summit.

Patience Agbabi is a sought-after poet and performer, and her work has featured on radio and TV worldwide.