by Linda Theil Frank Lawler, author of Behind the Mask of William Shakespeare In September, Oberon Zoom member Frank Lawler released Behind the Mask of William Shakespeare , his new translation and annotation of Abel Lefranc's Sous le Masque de William Shakespeare under the imprint of James Warren's Veritas Publications, LLC. Lawler generously agreed to share his thoughts about the work with Oberon readers. Oberon: What drew you to this enormous project? Lawler: Abel Lefranc's two-volume Sous le Masque de William Shakespeare was published in 1918 and 1919. The man was a brilliant scholar of literary history who, as a Frenchman, wasn't burdened with the entrenched English hagiography of the man from Stratford. A world-renowned expert on Moliere and Rabelais, he had academic credentials rivaling those of the greatest of the orthodox bardologists of the early Twentieth Century. Lefranc, however, thought the Stratfordian myth was ludicrous. Having spent most of his caree
by Linda Theil Oberon East/West colleague Dr. Michael Delahoyde , professor of English and Humanities at Washington State University, self-published an Oxfordian-perspective edition of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in August. Twelfth Night is his second Oxfordian edition, after publishing his Oxfordian edition of Anthony and Cleopatra in 2015. He talked with us about his work recently. Oberon: How long have you been working on this edition? Could you tell about your process and research? Delahoyde: I began work on this edition shortly after completing Anthony and Cleopatra , typing the play itself eight years ago and then puttering with it by reading every bit of research published that I could absorb, especially everything put forth by Oxfordians from Looney onwards, until Covid gave me the time and imprisonment; then it was full steam ahead. Oberon: Do you have a favorite note from this edition? Delahoyde: My favorite bit — from the intro, not a particular note: The most comp