The story of the Brontë family is an integral part of the literary landscape of Bradford, and the inspiration for Bradford Literature Festival’s annual Brontë Heritage strand of events.
In 2018, writer and musician Kate Bush, poet Carol Ann Duffy, poet and novelist Jackie Kay, and novelist Jeanette Winterson came together to celebrate the literary legacy of the Brontë sisters with a permanent, multi-site, public art installation set in the rugged landscape of Yorkshire. Each sister is remembered by a stone positioned in the enigmatic landscape where they lived and that the Brontës themselves immortalised with novels such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
Curated and delivered by BLF, and originated by writer Michael Stewart, the Brontë Stones project commissioned four original works of writing engraved onto stones in different locations connecting the Brontë sisters’ birthplace in Thornton and the Brontë family parsonage (now the Brontë Parsonage Museum) at Haworth. The captivating journey along the four points, of approximately 8 miles, form what is believed to have been the route the sisters themselves often took between the two locations.
Of the four commissioned pieces, three of the works (by Kate Bush, Carol Ann Duffy and Jackie Kay) respond to one of the Brontë Sisters (Emily, Charlotte and Anne, respectively), while the fourth (by Jeanette Winterson) responds to the Brontë legacy as a whole.
Accompanied by beautiful, hand drawn maps, created by Yorkshire cartographer Christopher Goddard, the stones take visitors on a journey in the footsteps of these extraordinary Yorkshire sisters, whose novels are recognised worldwide as some of the greatest works of literature to emerge from the 19th century.
The Brontë Stones bring the legacy of the extraordinary Brontë sisters to life, making the past new again for generations to come. Hundreds of people witnessed the stones’ unveiling in 2018 and every year, as part of BLF’s Brontë Heritage strand of events, visitors from all over the globe gather to join guided tours.
The walk remains open for members of the public to enjoy, leaving a permanent memorial in the landscape that homed and fuelled the imagination of these ground-breaking writers.
To commission, co-produce or fund similar programmes please get in touch.
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