THE SCHOOL holidays – and a very, very busy August! – are finally over, and so we’re now looking ahead to our autumn and winter activities.

We have a treat in store for young fans of the Brontës at our late-night Thursday on September 21.

The authors of the beautifully-illustrated children’s book The Brontës – Children of the Moors, Mick Manning and Brita Granström, will be visiting the museum to chat about their book, and there will be the chance for little ones to try their hand at drawing.

Mick and Brita will be with us from 5.30pm, when entry is free to local visitors who live in the BD22, BD21 and BD20 postcode areas and Thornton.

Following our late-night Thursday is our annual Brontë Festival of Women’s Writing which takes place from Friday, September 22 and runs through to Sunday, September 24.

The festival kicks off with a free event in Cobbles and Clay on Main Street on the Friday evening, focusing on self-publishing and self-promotion.

For any budding writers, who might be feeling slightly nervous about dipping toes into the world of self-publishing, this is a great opportunity to get some advice on alternative methods of publishing in an informal, relaxed setting.

On the afternoon of Saturday September 23, the matter of adapting the Brontës is centre-stage, as bestselling author Rachel Joyce and playwright Deborah McAndrew will be discussing the challenges of adapting the Brontë novels for stage and radio.

Rachel is the author of bestseller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and has adapted Brontë novels for BBC Radio 4 – most recently Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey.

Deborah’s WW1 drama An August Bank Holiday Lark won both the UK Theatre Award and Manchester Theatre Award for Best New Play in 2014.

For those readers of a certain age, you might recognise Deborah from Coronation Street circa 1990s, when she played street resident Angie Freeman!

Rachel and Deborah will be discussing their experiences of adapting Brontë classics in West Lane Baptist Centre at 2.30pm, and then both are leading workshops on Sunday, September 24 in the charming setting of Ponden Hall, Stanbury.

On Sunday morning, Deborah will lead a workshop on writing for the stage, and in the afternoon, Rachel will lead a workshop on writing for radio.

Both will be drawing on their extensive experience in each medium, and numbers are limited, so this will be a unique opportunity to learn from two very experienced practitioners.

Headlining on the Saturday night is award-winning novelist Sarah Perry. Her bestselling The Essex Serpent was Waterstones Book of the Year in 2016, shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award 2017, and is longlisted for the 2017 Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction.

One of Richard and Judy’s Summer Book Club choices, they describe the novel variously as a beautifully atmospheric work of historical fiction, a thing of beauty, and something of a masterpiece. Sarah will be talking about her bestseller at 7.30pm in West Lane Baptist Centre.

Don’t miss out on this stellar line-up – a real treat for admirers of contemporary fiction. Tickets are available from bronte.org.uk/whats-on or call 01535 640192 for further information.