The Shakespeare Furore

Event Information

The Shakespeare authorship question first burst into public consciousness 170 years ago. Early questioners included many prominent figures of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the last two decades, while those defending the orthodox narrative have increasingly characterised the authorship question as a conspiracy theory, over 50 peer-reviewed articles challenging the traditional narrative have been published in academic journals. Meanwhile, the orthodox position has begun to shift towards the ‘many hands’ idea, with the New Oxford Shakespeare now claiming that a third of the Shakespeare canon is co-authored.

Now award-winning journalist Elizabeth Winkler’s book Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies: How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature is making waves. A London Library event featuring Winkler in discussion provoked a furious attack by Times journalist Oliver Kamm, who depicts authorship questioners as “conspiratorial fantasists” aligned with the far right, a threat to “a liberal society” and the question as “a contagion of superstition and ignorance”. Dr Ros Barber explores what is really going on in the authorship question, and why some people get so worked up about it.

Date: Tuesday 24th September 2024
Time 8pm (doors 7.30)
Venue: The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX (Tubes: Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Aldgate East)
Tickets £5/£3