Description
The Brontë children were surrounded by storytellers from birth, hearing tales from different voices and areas. With parents from the North of Ireland and Cornwall, both places redolent with myths, legends, and their own stories related in geographical accents.
Listening to genteel Thornton company would have contrasted much with servants’ speech, which in turn would have been different to that in Haworth and Keighley.
Dialect, myths and legends in each place were influenced by past migration, and new communities settling in the areas during the Brontës’ lives.
In this talk, Irene looks at these influences, the accents and dialect the Brontës heard around them, on visits to Keighley, and how these may have found their way into their written work.
This event has changed from the original listing.
About the Speaker
Irene Lofthouse
Irene’s been storytelling since age 6 – it says so on her school report. She is an author, playwright, social historian, actor/director and creative content producer/project developer. Irene has written many plays, two children’s fiction collections and edited several poetry/prose anthologies. A regular contributor to literary/art festivals, she’s commissioned by heritage organisations and universities to create site-specific poems/stories. Currently touring her one-woman show ‘Meet Louise Whitfield: Andrew Carnegie’s ‘most trusted confidante’; she recorded Hidden Bradford storytelling episodes on BBC Sounds and is researching speculative influences on Brontë writing. Irene’s focus is making the invisible visible.
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