ArtsNational Rockhampton lecture with Susannah Fullerton

Next date: Saturday, 03 May 2025 | 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

“Sisters of Tragedy: The Brontes and Their Works”

The story of the Brontës, a tragic and brilliant family, is one of the most fascinating tales in all of English literature. Charlotte, Emily and Anne grew up in a bleak Yorkshire parsonage, expecting to become governesses. Instead, they wrote 7 extraordinary novels - passionate, violent, feminist and autobiographical - which they published anonymously. Only Charlotte enjoyed literary fame, as Emily and Anne died soon after publishing their works.

Susannah Fullerton presents the incredible story of these sisters of tragedy, performs dramatic excerpts from their books and poems, and depicts the Victorian background of repressive attitudes to women, against which they struggled all their lives. Vivid slides will transport you to Yorkshire and its wild and beautiful moors.

Susannah has been passionate about literature for as long as she can remember. She has a BA from the University of Auckland NZ and a post-graduate degree in Victorian literature from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She currently teaches literature courses in Sydney and lectures regularly at the State Library of NSW and the Art Gallery of NSW.

In 2017 Susannah was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for
Services to Literature and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW. This is primarily a scientific body, but they have extending into the arts and Susannah was the first recipient.