2018 is the year of Emily Brontë’s
bicentenary. As I am a massive Emily Brontë fan, this year is important for me.
I sometimes wished that I could have taken a sabbatical year off to go to all
the events that have been organised to
celebrate Emily’s 200th birthday. But sadly, I have to limit my
taking part in the celebrations to the BS conference in York (in September) and
afterwards my annual visit to Haworth.
My husband and I go to Ireland (and
England) on our holidays every year and for both Charlotte’s and Branwell’s
bicentenary I have found special places to visit that were related to the
travels of these Brontë siblings. For Charlotte her honeymoon in Ireland was a
very good topic to explore in Ireland, for Branwell the Lake district was the
selected area. I reported on these
travels on the BBG blog.
In Emily’s case that was more
difficult, she was not really someone who travelled a lot. Apart from her work
as a governess at Law Hill, she only travelled to York (with her sister Anne)
and to Brussels (with her sister Charlotte). Both these destinations were not
really a good option to write about or to visit: Brussels is for me not a
special destiny to travel to as I work there (and this subject has been dealt
with in great detail by our own Helen in books, articles and presentations),
and the BS conference on Emily this year is taking place in York.
Therefore, I had to find something
else to do during my holidays to remember Emiliy Brontë and to celebrate her
special birthday. My only option left was reading the many books (old and
recent ones) that have been written on Emily’s life and work. And reading I
did! A lot! Even while in Ireland, Emily was not out of the picture. One
Tuesday morning I went to the newspaper agent and what did I see: “Ireland’s Own” (an Irish magazine)
featured Emily Brontë’s bicentenary (“The unforgettable Emily Brontë”): five
pages on Emily’s life and work. Nothing new, of course, but still it made my
day!
