Oberon Shakespeare Study Group

Alexander Waugh, presented two papers at the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship 2014 conference in Madison, WI; Photo Linda Theil by Linda Theil Ron Halsted, Richard Joyrich and I attended the 2014 Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship conference in Madison, WI Sept 11-14. Alexander Waugh flew in from England to present two papers: one on the bogus nature of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust site, and the second on Ben Jonson's "Sweet Swan of Avon" reference in the First Folio that appears to place the author of Shakespeare's works on the banks of Stratford on Avon. Waugh's essay on the topic of Shakespeare's birthplace appears in his just-published Kindle Single ebook titled, Shakespeare in Court, and is available from Amazon for $1.99 at http://amazon.com/Shakespeare-Court-Kindle-Single-Alexander-ebook/dp/B00NFFP3OU . A Kindle reader is available at no cost from the site. Preview available here . Waugh's essay on Jonson's "swan of avon" is ...

Hugh Trevor-Roper circa 1980 at Oxford. Photo by Graham Harrison courtesy The Sunday Times Was Hugh Trevor-Roper an Authorship Doubter? Letter to Charlton Ogburn, Jr., discovered by  Alexander Waugh, confirms that he was by Oberon guest blogger John M. Shahan, Chairman of the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition Most Oxfordians probably know that Hugh Trevor-Roper , (1914-2003) Baron Dacre of Glanton, Regius Professor of History at Oxford University and the British intelligence officer who tracked Hitler during World War II, wrote an article in which he marveled at the strange elusiveness of William Shakespeare. The following famous quote appears in Shakespeare Beyond Doubt? (Shahan and Waugh, eds., 2013) and is paraphrased in the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt : Of all the immortal geniuses of literature, none is personally so elusive as William Shakespeare. It is exasperating, and almost incredible, that he should be so. After all, he lived in the full day...

Actor and poet Alain English by Linda Theil The Central London Debating Society will host a debate on the Shakespeare authorship question at 7:30 p.m. April 30, 2014 at the The Olde Cock Tavern Pub, 22 Fleet Street, London. The event is being organized by London-based actor and poet, Alain English , who is an associate of the society. English said: This will be an open panel debate with the motion "Does the Shakespeare Authorship Question Matter?". All the speakers will talk for five minutes before taking questions from the floor. The Central London Debating Society, of which I am a member, is cautious about approaching this subject matter having never really done so before but I am hoping if it is successful it will pave the way for a proper debate on the matter. We are looking for an extra speaker on the Stratfordian side just to balance things out a little but if not I will speak myself in addition to Alan Nelson, Ros Barber and William Leahy and I will intro...

English author and composer Alexander Waugh named Tony Pointon's  The Man Who Was Never Shakespeare  (Parapress, 2011) as one of his favorite reads of 2011 in Waugh's reply to a Wall Street Journal   article published December 17. With dry humor, Waugh said that he has vacillated in his response to the Shakespeare authorship controversy, and added: Mr. Pointon's book sets out to prove that "William Shakspere" (an illiterate player and tradesman from Stratford) never wrote the poems and plays credited to the pseudonym "William Shakespeare." The book's strength is that it doesn't attempt to peddle any of Mr. Pointon's own theories as to who actually did write them. His evidence is clear and compelling. So I am currently on Mr. Pointon's side against the Stratfordians, enjoying my gullibility and looking forward to re-reversing my views many more times in the coming years.  In the article titled "Twelve Months of Reading" , th...