Discover the idiosyncratic woman and monumental genius behind Wuthering Heights in a new biography.

Emily Brontë (1818–1848) was just twenty-seven years old when she began work on one of the most important novels in the English language: Wuthering Heights. It took the world almost a century to catch up to Brontë’s masterpiece—and it has taken even longer to know Brontë, whose early death gave rise to a ghostly legacy marred by the loss (and likely destruction) of almost all her personal papers. Drawing on formerly inaccessible notebooks and manuscripts, renowned scholar Deborah Lutz constructs a portrait of Brontë—and her famous writing sisters, Charlotte and Anne—against the backdrop of her days tending a Victorian household, wandering her beloved moors, and crafting otherworldly fiction. The first biography of Emily Brontë in more than twenty years, This Dark Night plumbs the life and writing of an author at odds with convention.

Deborah Lutz worked on This Dark Night: Emily Brontë, a Life during her 2023-2024 Fellowship at the Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. She will discuss her book with bestselling author Brandon Taylor.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Deborah Lutz is the Kelly Professor in Nineteenth-Century English and American Literature at Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of The Brontë Cabinet, Pleasure Bound, and other works, and she has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Cullman Center. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times. She lives in Pennsylvania and New York City.

Brandon Taylor is the author of the novels Minor Black Figures, The Late Americans, and Real Life, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and a Science + Literature Selected Title by the National Book Foundation. His collection Filthy Animals, a national bestseller, was awarded the Story Prize and shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. He was the 2022-2023 Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow at the Cullman Center. He lives in New York City.

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ACCESSIBILITY

In-Person | Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service at least two weeks in advance of the event: please submit your request via this form. This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs. 

Livestream | Captions and a transcript will be provided. Media used over the course of the conversation will be accompanied by alt text and/or audio description. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation at least two weeks in advance of the event: please submit your request via this form.

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The Cullman Center is made possible by a generous endowment from Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman in honor of Brooke Russell Astor, with major support provided by Mrs. John L. Weinberg, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Estate of Charles J. Liebman, The von der Heyden Family Foundation, John and Constance Birkelund, and The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, and with additional gifts from Helen and Roger Alcaly, The Rona Jaffe Foundation, The Arts and Letters Foundation Inc., William W. Karatz, Merilee and Roy Bostock, and Cullman Center Fellows.