The Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship held its 2021 Annual Conference on Friday and Saturday, October 8-9, 2021. (Update: The conference is now concluded; recordings of the symposium will be posted on the SOF YouTube channel in due course.)
The symposium took place live on Zoom. The full-color PDF syllabus with schedule and details is available here.
Read more about the Symposium below.
More than a dozen speakers from across North America will highlight the conference, including a panel moderated by Bob Meyers, with authors Michael Blanding, Dennis McCarthy, and Prof. Bryan H. Wildenthal, discussing the claim by McCarthy – the subject of Blanding’s book North by Shakespeare – that Sir Thomas North wrote plays on which canonical “Shakespeare” works were based. The panel will compare the evidence relating to the North theory with the evidence supporting Edward de Vere (Earl of Oxford) as the true “Shakespeare.”
The symposium will also showcase the winners of this year’s international SOF Video Contest, the second Tom Regnier Veritas Award, and the 2021 Oxfordian of the Year.
On the opening night, Friday, October 8, Meyers will host an extended “Authorship 101” session, including showing a video by the late Tom Regnier (“Did Shakespeare Really Write Shakespeare?”). On the same program, John M. Shahan, founder of the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition, will speak about the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt” and answer questions from viewers. This session will also include an introduction to key books, websites, videos, films, and podcasts.
Speakers for Saturday’s opening session on October 9, hosted by 2019 Oxfordian of the Year Cheryl Eagan-Donovan, will include SOF Trustee Ben August on his purchase of Oxford’s 1565 volume on the Greek and Persian wars, Dr. Earl Showerman on Titus Andronicus, Katherine Chiljan on a newly discovered portrait of Oxford’s sister, Prof. Roger Stritmatter on Cleopatra and the authorship question, and Dr. Elisabeth P. Waugaman on French academics and Shakespeare. This session will close with a talk by James A. Warren on the greatest deception in literary history.
The last session, hosted by Prof. Don Rubin, will include talks by Prof. Michael Delahoyde on editing Twelfth Night from an Oxfordian perspective, Prof. Richard M. Waugaman on Oxford as translator of The Decameron, and Michael Dudley on Stratfordian epistemology and the ethics of belief. The scholarly presentations will conclude with the panel comparing the evidence for North and Oxford.
See schedule and program details below (always subject to change).
For SOF members only, the Annual Meeting (the official bylaws-mandated business meeting) will begin the Fall 2021 Conference a week earlier, on Saturday, October 2, starting at 1:00 pm Eastern (10:00 am Pacific) and expected to last 60 to 90 minutes. Members will be able to hear reports on the past year’s activities, participate in elections of the SOF President and Trustees, and ask questions about the organization’s work and direction. More information will be emailed to members.
The SOF Fall 2021 Fundraising Appeal, with thank-you gifts at various levels, remains open throughout the conference and until October 15. It includes a special reduced-price gift offer for anyone newly joining the SOF during this period.
The SOF Board extends special thanks to the members of the 2021 Conference Organizing Committee: Prof. Don Rubin (committee chair), Bonner Miller Cutting (program co-chair), Cheryl Eagan-Donovan (program co-chair), John Hamill, Richard Joyrich, Bob Meyers, and Dr. Earl Showerman. And a very special thanks to our Website Design and Technology Editor (and Zoom master), Jennifer Newton.
PROGRAM
All times below are U.S. Eastern.
For the full-color PDF syllabus with the schedule and speaker biographies, abstracts, and photographs, please click here.
Session One: Friday, October 8, 7:00-9:00 pm
7:00 – Bob Meyers hosts from Washington, D.C. – Welcome and Symposium Opening Remarks by John Hamill
7:10 – Video: Tom Regnier, “Did Shakespeare Really Write Shakespeare?”
8:10 – John M. Shahan, founder, Shakespeare Authorship Coalition (SAC): “The Declaration of Reasonable Doubt“
[Video: Keir Cutler, “Why Was I Never Told This?” Due to a technical issue, this video could not be shown. The live schedule was altered slightly from the printed syllabus.]
8:25 – Open Q & A via “chat” with John M. Shahan and Bob Meyers [no questions were submitted]
8:30 – Bob Meyers: an introduction to books, websites, videos, and podcasts relating to Oxfordian studies
8:45 – Closing Remarks
Session Two: Saturday, October 9, 12:00-3:00 pm
12:00 – Cheryl Eagan-Donovan hosts from Boston – Welcome
12:05 – Ben August: “Oxford’s 1565 Volume by Herodotus on the Greek and Persian Wars, Delle Guerre de Greci et de Persi”
12:20 – Dr. Earl Showerman: “Classical Mythopoetic Profusion in The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”
12:50 – Katherine Chiljan: “A Newly Discovered Portrait of Oxford’s Sister, Lady Mary Vere”
1:20 – Prof. Roger Stritmatter: “A Kingdom for a Mirth: Shakespeare’s Fatal Cleopatra and the Authorship Question”
1:50 – Showing of Some Previous Video Contest Winners
2:00 – Dr. Elisabeth P. Waugaman: “French Academics and Shakespeare”
2:30 – James A. Warren: “The Greatest Deception in Literary History? A Contrarian’s View of 1623”
2:50 – Closing Remarks
Session Three: Saturday, October 9, 4:00-7:15 pm
4:00 – Prof. Don Rubin hosts from Toronto – Welcome
4:05 – Prof. Michael Delahoyde: “Epiphanies Whilst Editing an Oxfordian Twelfth Night”
4:35 – Prof. Richard M. Waugaman: “Oxford Translated Boccaccio’s Decameron”
5:05 – Screening of the 2021 Third and Second Place Video Contest Winners
5:15 – Michael Dudley: “Stratfordian Epistemology and the Ethics of Belief”
5:45 – Panel Discussion: “Thomas North and Edward de Vere” – moderated by Bob Meyers
Panelists: Michael Blanding, Dennis McCarthy, and Prof. Bryan H. Wildenthal
6:55 – Julie Sandys Bianchi: Announcement and screening of the 2021 First Place Video Contest Winner
7:00 – Prof. Roger Stritmatter (2013 Oxfordian of the Year): Announcement of the Tom Regnier Veritas Award
7:05 – Cheryl Eagan-Donovan (2019 Oxfordian of the Year) and James A. Warren (2020 Oxfordian of the Year): Announcement of the 2021 Oxfordian of the Year
7:15 – Conclusion of the Conference
