A TOP poet and a grant of almost £100,000 will help celebrate the life of the “overshadowed” Bronte sibling throughout 2017.

Next year will mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Branwell Bronte, brother to Anne, Charlotte and Emily. To mark the occasion, Simon Armitage has been appointed as creative partner to the Haworth based Bronte Parsonage Museum, where the siblings lived for much of their lives.

The museum’s contemporary arts programme has also just been given £97,702 from the Arts Council to support activities to mark the bicentenaries of both Branwell next year and Emily Brontë during 2018.

Mr Armitage will be the Creative Partner for 2017 and is curating a programme of exhibitions and events to mark Branwell’s birth in Thornton two centuries ago.

While his three sisters went on to become some of the most acclaimed writers of their time, Branwell is often remembered as a frustrated artist, and more famous for his drinking.

Mr Armitage, a Huddersfield born poet and playwright said: “Most people know Branwell either as the ne’re-do-well brother of the Brontë family or as the shadowy absence in his famous portrait of his three sisters.

“We’ll never really know Branwell properly, but in putting together events for his bicentenary I feel as if I’ve been privy to some of his hopes and dreams. “Branwell’s early promise and swaggering enthusiasm was ultimately overshadowed by the talents of his siblings, but even before then he appears to have lost his boyish optimism and fighting spirit, and I’ve found it impossible not be saddened by his disillusionment and decline.”

Jenna Holmes, Arts Officer at the Parsonage, said: “We’re really excited to be working with Simon during 2017.

“Branwell remains an enigma for many and we’re planning a series of events which will dig beneath the preconceptions and challenge what we think we know about the only son in the family.

“We’re hugely grateful to Arts Council England for their support and are looking forward to revealing our programme in the new year.”

A full programme of events marking the anniversary will be announced in January.

A BBC drama, To Walk Invisible, about the lives of the Bronte siblings, airs on BBC1 at 9pm on Thursday December 29.