Winkler drops the mic

Elizabeth Winkler presenting at Shakespearean Authorship Trust virtual event April 22, 2023

by Linda Theil

In her new book, Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies: How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature, Elizabeth Winkler presents a smart, witty, and eminently readable account of one woman's journey through the wonderful world of Stratfordian bullshit.

Winkler's new book published by Simon & Schuster, 2023

According to her publisher:

"Elizabeth Winkler is a journalist and book critic whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Times Literary Supplement, and The Economist, among other publications. She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and her master’s in English literature from Stanford University. Her essay “Was Shakespeare a Woman?”, first published in The Atlantic, was selected for The Best American Essays 2020. She lives in Washington, DC."

I've included some resources about Winkler and her sojourn below:

The author speaks for herself at the L.A. Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable on April 8, 2023:

She also appeared at the Shakespearean Authorship Trust on April 22, 2023

Winkler was interviewed for the Significant Others history podcast on April 27, 2023. Listen here.

She appeared on the Don't Quill the Messenger podcast "Taboo to Doubt" episode on May 5, 2023. Listen here.

She spoke on the Wisconsin Public Radio Central Time program on May 19, 2023. Listen here.

Michael Dudley's review of Winkler's book appeared as "Questions aplenty about bard's backstory" in the Winnepeg Free Press on May 5, 2023.

Read here.

Patrick Sullivan's review appeared in the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship weblog on May 23, 2023. Read here.

Slate proved Winkler's point with a knee-jerk review "Shakespeare was Shakespeare" on May 11, 2023; and ill-informed Gabfest podcast (beginning at minute 32:40) on May 17, 2023. Read here. Listen here.

Jonathan Bate reviews Winkler in The Telegraph May 28, 2023: "Was Shakespeare really a woman? And does Taylor Swift know him best?" Read here. Posted 06/16/23

Sir Mark Rylance interviewed Elizabeth Winkler for How-to Academy on June 6, 2023. Info here. Posted 06/16/23

Sir Mark Rylance and Sir Derek Jacoby rebut Bate review in Letters ; article reporting on rebuttal "Mark Rylance reignites Shakespeare row . . ." by Anita Singh in The Telegraph June 8, 2023. Read here. Posted 06/16/23

"The lady doth protest too much for traditionalists" Felicia Loundre's review of Winkler's book published June 13, 2023 in The Village Voice. Read here. Posted 06/16/23

Bob Meyers interviewed Winkler for the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship on June 16, 2023. Watch here. Posted 06/16/23

"Shakespeare was a woman . . ." review by Stephanie Merritt published in The Guardian June 18, 2023. Read here. Posted 06/26/23

Publishers Weekly starred review published February 2, 2023. Read here. Posted 06/26/23

Kirkus Reviews staff review published May 2, 2023. Read here. Posted 06/26/23

The Guardian review "It was shocking . . ." by David Smith published June 27, 2023. Read here. Posted 06/30/23

History of Literature podcast "Shakespeare was a woman . . ." aired July 3, 2023. Listen here. Posted 07/08/23

174T Episode four, DeVere Society podcast "Winkler's Wave" interview with Alexander Waugh aired August 18, 2023. Listen here. Posted 09/10/23.

Sydney Morning Herald review "It's all Shakespeare . . ." published Oct 17, 2023. Read here. Posted 10/25/23.

The New Historia Presents: Shakespeare Was a Woman & Other Heresies panel at The New School, NYC. Watch video here. Posted 10/25/23.

Podcasts are also available on any podcast player app. I'll update as more information is available.

Was King Richard III a Control Freak? Science News ... from universities, journals, and other research organizations Mar. 4, 2013 — University of Leicester psychologists believe Richard III was not a psychopath -- but he may have had control freak tendencies. University of Leicester psychologists have made an analysis of Richard III's character -- aiming to get to the man behind the bones. Professor Mark Lansdale, Head of the University's School of Psychology, and forensic psychologist Dr Julian Boon have put together a psychological analysis of Richard III based on the consensus among historians relating to Richard's experiences and actions. They found that, while there was no evidence for Shakespeare's depiction of Richard III as a psychopath, he may have had "intolerance to uncertainty syndrome" -- which may have manifested in control freak tendencies. The academics presented their findings on Saturday, March 2 at the University

What's a popp'rin' pear?

James Wheaton reported yesterday in the Jackson Citizen Patriot that the Michigan Shakespeare Festival high school tour of Romeo and Juliet was criticized for inappropriate content -- " So me take issue with sexual innuendoes in Michigan Shakespeare Festival’s High School Tour performances of ‘Romeo & Juliet’" : Western [High School] parent Rosie Crowley said she was upset when she heard students laughing about sexual content in the play afterwards. Her son didn’t attend the performance Tuesday because of another commitment, she said. “I think the theater company should have left out any references that were rated R,” Crowley said. “I would say that I’ve read Shakespeare, and what I was told from the students, I’ve never read anything that bad.” She said she objected to scenes that involved pelvic thrusting and breast touching and to a line in which Mercutio makes suggestive comments to Romeo after looking up the skirt of a female. The problem with cutting out the naug

Winkler lights the match

by Linda Theil When asked by an interviewer why all the experts disagree with her on the legitimacy of the Shakespeare authorship question, journalist and author Elizabeth Winkler calmly replied, "You've asked the wrong experts." * With that simple declaration Winkler exploded the topic of Shakespearean authorship forever. Anti-Stratfordians need no smoking gun, no convincing narrative, no reason who, how, when, or why because within the works lies the unassailable argument: Shakespeare's knowledge. Ask the lawyers. Ask the psychologists. Ask the librarians. Ask the historians. Ask the dramaturges. Ask the mathematicians. Ask the Greek scholars. Ask the physicists. Ask the astronomers. Ask the courtiers. Ask the bibliophiles. Ask the Italians. Ask the French. Ask the Russians. Ask the English. Ask everyone. Current academic agreement on a bevy of Shakespearean collaborators springs from an unspoken awareness of how much assistance the Stratfordian presumptive would h

Oberon Shakespeare Study Group

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