WE’RE GETTING very excited about our Bronte Festival of Women’s Writing.

This takes place over the weekend of September 22, and 23, and features a number of workshops, and a headline event from our Writer in Residence, Patience Agbabi, one of Britain’s most prominent spoken word poets.

Patience has spent months visiting Haworth and soaking up the atmosphere of the museum and the surrounding landscape, and her performance on Saturday night will involve her reading new work about Emily Bronte inspired by her residency.

Those who came along to our birthday celebrations at the end of July will have heard Patience recite one of her new poems, ‘Emily Blogs’, which went down a storm, so we’re really looking forward to hearing more of Patience’s new work. Tickets cost £8/£6 or £2 and the event takes place in West Lane Baptist Centre at 7.30pm.

We have a number of workshops programmed over the weekend, with one sold out so far, and tickets are selling fast for the others, so don’t delay.

Some of you may be fans of best-selling author Frances Brody, who writes murder mysteries, set in 1920s Yorkshire, featuring Kate Shackleton, First World War widow turned detective. Her most recent book A Snapshot of Murder, set in 1920s Haworth, is due out on October 25.

In a three-hour crime writing workshop with Frances on Saturday morning, you’ll explore the different approaches to writing a crime novel, with practical advice on creating characters, shaping plots and finding the right setting.

Saturday afternoon’s workshop is focused on writing online – a burgeoning industry! The workshop leader is Marisa Bate, journalist, author and speaker with a particular focus on women’s issues. Marisa will guide workshop participants through the differences between writing online and print content, finding the right tone and style and engaging with readers.

We also have tickets left for the Sunday morning self-editing workshop with novelist Emma Darwin, where participants will learn how to tackle that crucial second draft. Tickets for all the workshops cost between £22.50 and £27.50, and take place at Ponden Hall, Stanbury.

We also have a handful of tickets left for our intimate Parsonage Unwrapped evening on Friday September 28. To mark the centenary of partial female suffrage, this event focuses on the working lives of the women of the Parsonage in the 19th century – both the Bronte sisters and their servants. Tickets cost £20/£17.50 and include a glass of wine.

And our free Tuesday talk on October 2 focuses on Critical Responses to Wuthering Heights, so join us to learn what all the fuss was about when the novel was first published, and how critical opinion has shifted through the decades.

When next I write, we’ll be looking ahead to my favourite time of year – October and spooky storytelling! Tickets for all events are available at bronte.org.uk/whats-on or call 01535 640192.