International Women’s Day: Literary Letters online

Celebrate International Women’s Day on Tuesday 8 March with a special online event beaming out of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House exploring the remarkable letters of the celebrated Manchester author, along with those of fellow 19th-century blockbuster women novelists Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë plus the Queen of Science Mary Somerville.

Live readings of the personal correspondence of these four 19th century icons will help you to step into the private worlds of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell and Mary Somerville, and offer fascinating insights into their lives and revealing, intriguing and intimate portraits of these women who continue to inspire and enthuse women around the world today.

Live readings of the personal correspondence of these four 19th century icons will help you to step into the private worlds of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell and Mary Somerville.

Women’s words have often been dismissed as mere gossip, while men’s have been fêted and admired, but women’s letters can often reveal huge amounts about their writer’s lives and the boundaries that confined them, making them a fascinating portal into how life was like for women in bygone days.

This is a partnership event with Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, Jane Austen’s House (find out more here), plus Chawton House – the “Great House” referred to in Jane Austen’s letters – and the Brontë Parsonage Museum.