Haworth Today - Ruth Lister

Haworth today is a friendly jumble of tourism, commuters, residents, businesses, church and nature. It is open to the wide moors and hills and set against the tapestry of the Brontes. Their lives and images of passion and silence are still strong: Patrick discharging his revolver into the sky (it was later stolen from the parsonage); Maria, his cherished wife, dying tragically young; Branwell tempting fate and trying to die standing up like Elizabeth I. The genius daughters – Anne whose character justifiably tied her child charges to the leg of a dining table, but also tried to kill a nest of baby birds (I could never read past this). Emily, whose wildness and independent walks on the moors inspired generations. Charlotte, a cult figure of her age, now increasingly recognized as an author who changed fiction and wrote from the heart. All of them a family who wanted to live, to breathe, to exist fiercely. Some of these images and others more contemporary appear in the writing included here.

Ruth Lister was born in St. Louis, Missouri (USA). She studied at Sarah Lawrence College in New York with the noted poet Jean Valentine. In Edinburgh University, Ruth was mentored by the outstanding Gaelic poet, Sorley Maclean. She obtained a further degree from the London School of Economics, where she founded the Poetry Group during her period of study. As well as completing a D. Phil at the University of York, Ruth published numerous academic articles and books with publishers such as Routledge, Macmillan, Arkana (Penguin), Ashgate, Avebury, and Westview Press. Recently, Ruth established a micro-publishing venture, Noises from the Bridge, which has published zines on Hebden Bridge, the View from America, Haworth Today and The Life and Times of Development Aid. Ruth Lister is a member of the Academy of American Poets, the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester and the Hebden Writers Group.

Dyke 4 Dyke #4 - June 2026

Haworth Today - Ruth Lister

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