Emily + Pre-Movie Talk
Talk starts at 6.45pm prompt
A 21st Century Emily Brontë: Michael Stewart and Claire O’Callaghan in conversation
Frances O’Connor’s directorial debut, Emily, tells the story of one of the most enigmatic authors in Victorian literature: Emily Brontë. But where does it depart from reality and how closely does it stick to the facts? And does it matter? This pre-screening in-conversation event will discuss O’Connor’s depiction of Emily Brontë in relation to other films and cultural phenomena. We all think we know Emily Brontë, but who was she really? Was she ever in love? And why do we keep returning to tell her story?
Both Dr Michael Stewart and Dr Claire O’Callaghan are Brontë experts who have written extensively about the subject. Ill Will: The Untold Story of Heathcliff, is published by HarperCollins, as is Walking the Invisible, a hybrid memoir about the Brontës’ lives and landscapes. He is also the creator of the Brontë Stones project, four monumental stones situated in the landscape between the birthplace and the parsonage, inscribed with poems by Kate Bush, Carol Ann Duffy, Jeannette Winterson and Jackie Kay. Find out more about him here: www.michael-stewart.org.uk or find him on Twitter @headspam
Dr Claire O’Callaghan is a Lecturer in English at Loughborough University where she specialises in the life and works of the Brontës, particularly Emily. She is the author of Emily Brontë Reappraised (2018) and she has also published on Jane Eyre, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Emily’s poetry, among other topics. Claire is also the newly appointed Co-Editor-in-Chief of Brontë Studies, the journal of the Brontë Society.
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