THE BRONTE Society has released full details of its special weekend this month to celebrate Emily’s 200th birthday.

Celebrities and literary enthusiasts alike will descend on Haworth for four days of events to honour

the bicentennial for the author of Wuthering Heights.

Guests will include model and social activist Lily Cole, folk group The Unthanks, poet Patience Agbabi and novelist Kate Mosse.

The society, which runs the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, promises a spectacular weekend highlighting “one of the most unique and imaginative writers in literature”.

The weekend will run from July 27 to 30. Some of the activities are free with admission to the museum, while others are paid-for and need booking in advance.

Activities will begin on the Friday with the monthly Bronte Treasures talk, offering a unique opportunity for visitors to go beyond the security cord into the Parsonage Library for a close-up viewing of priceless items not on display.

A member of the museum’s curatorial team will share facts and stories about carefully-selected objects, offering a specialist insight into the lives and works of the Bronte family.

I Am Heathcliff, on Friday at 7.30pm, is the launch of a special commission for Emily’s bicentenary year, featuring 16 short stories inspired by Wuthering Heights.

A spokesman said: “These beautiful and arresting tales from some of the stars of modern fiction re-examine a character who lives in infamy as a tortured romantic hero – the unforgettable Heathcliff.

Kate Mosse, who has curated this collection, will be joined by fellow contributors Joanna Cannon, Juno Dawson and Louise Doughty to read from the anthology.

Painting in the Parsonage will be on the Saturday from 11am to 4pm, a drop-in workshop giving visitors a chance to join artist Vic Buta in recreating Branwell’s iconic portrait of his sisters.

Making Your Mark Online is a workshop for anyone wanting to know more about blogging, vlogging and podcasting, on Saturday from 10am to noon.

Lucy Powrie, Bronte Society Young Ambassador and acclaimed YouTuber, will lead participants through the world of online content, with tips for creating content, building a following and developing a brand.

Women, Gothic and Emily, on Saturday at 3.30pm, will look at the imposing houses, eerie doubling of names and wandering of unquiet spirits within Wuthering Heights.

The spokesman said: “Emily’s only published novel continues to cast a looming shadow over Gothic writing up to the present day.

“Novelist Katherine Clements and Beth Underdown discuss the impact of Wuthering Heights on their own writing, and how their work contributes to a continuing Gothic tradition.”

Katherine Clements is a critically-acclaimed novelist whose latest novel, The Coffin Path, is a ghost story set in the West Yorkshire moors.

Beth Underdown’s first novel, The Witchfinder’s Sister, last year won the Historical Writer’s Association Debut Crown Award, and was selected for the Richard & Judy Book Club.

This, That, and ‘The Other’, the headline event on Saturday at 7.30pm, is curated by Melanie Abrahams and features poets, musicians and wordsmiths offering their personal response to the themes central to Wuthering Heights and pertinent to Emily.

The spokesman said: “Join us to experience the thrill of performance, perfectly pitched speech, rousing wordplay and the art of Trinidad-style liming. “

The event features Patience Agbabi, John Siddique, Jay Bernard, Will Harris and Tobago Crusoe.

Sunday begins with Sketching Out Of Doors, workshops at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Participants should meet outside the museum shop.

In Emily’s Footsteps begins at 9.30am, and is a challenging but invigorating walk through the “unforgiving landscape” of the Haworth moors.

The walk will be led by Michael Stewart, author of Ill Will, a new novel about Heathcliff, and the 14-mile route ties in with the Bronte Stones project.

Poetry at the Parsonage offers an Open Mic session from noon till 4pm, compered by Mark Connor and Gill Lambert.

Mark’s debut poetry pamphlet, Life is a Long Song, was published by OWF Press in 2015, and his first full-length poetry collection, Nothing is Meant to be Broken, was published in 2017 by Stairwell Books.

Gill Lambert is a poet, teacher, and creative writing facilitator from Yorkshire.

SMJ Falconry return to the Bronte Parsonage Museum with their birds of prey, on the Sunday from 10am to 4pm, in an event recalling Emily’s love of hawks.

On the Sunday, Lucy Powrie will repeat her workshop entitled Making Your Mark Online, but this time aimed at under 25s.

Lily Cole, the Bronte Society’s creative partner of 2018, will unveil her new film Balls at 7.30pm on the Sunday.

On display at the Bronte Parsonage Museum, and also at the Foundling Museum, London, Balls takes as its starting point Heathcliff, the foundling character central to Wuthering Heights, and explores links between

the Foundling Hospital story and the much-loved novel by Emily Bronte.

To accompany the film, the Bronte museum will display objects from the Foundling Museum

Collection. At the event on July 29, Lily will discuss her commission alongside Caro Howell, Director of the Foundling Museum.

On Monday, July 30, Emily’s actual 200th birthday, will be the event Emily Speaks, at 2pm.

Personal responses to Emily’s life, poetry and prose will be read by Bidisha, Hannah Lowe and Melanie Abrahams.

Their work spans journalism, poetry and oratory, and they share a common interest in social mobilisation through

literature, explore Emily’s independence and self-determination in relation to the broader racial, cultural and social histories of the 19th century.

What Emily Means to Us is billed as a celebration of Emily’s work and legacy.

Lily Cole, Patience Agbabi and other guests perform readings of Emily’s work.

Folk group The Unthanks will announce details of their forthcoming Emily-inspired work and give a short performance from their repertoire.

Visit bronte.org.uk/whats-on or call 01535 640192 for further details of all the events.