2026 SOF Conference
See you in Seattle!
September 24-26, 2026 | Seattle, Washington
The SOF’s 2026 conference will take place this coming 24-26 September (Thursday to Saturday) at the beautiful Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seattle, Washington. Presentations will begin on Thursday at 1 p.m. and will be followed by a wine and cheese reception.
The conference is the SOF’s largest annual event and is always budgeted on a break-even basis. Registration fees only cover the costs of rental for the venue, video/live stream, a wine and cheese welcome reception, two lunches, refreshment breaks throughout and, of course, an opportunity to hear some two dozen Oxfordian speakers offering new research on the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
Also included this year is a Seattle Harbor boat tour for attendees, a great opportunity to chat with the speakers and renew old friendships. Don’t miss it!
CONFERENCE THEME
This year’s conference theme — a Shakespearean nod to Seattle — is “North By Northwest — Madness, Travel and Discovery in Oxford’s Shakespeare.” and will feature new research from both major SOF scholars and several new speakers.
Among the veterans:
- Margo Anderson who will give the Keynote on why Shakespeare chose to use a pseudonym
- Bonner Cutting on why the Prince Tudor theory is wrong
- Katherine Chiljan on Oxford’s muses
- Robert Prechter on Oxford and the Armada
- Roger Stritmatter on early Oxfordian history
- Earl Showerman on the origins of Shylock
- Michael Dudley, the recently-named Editor of The Oxfordian, on new directions for the SOF’s annual journal
Other featured speakers include Dorothea Dickerman on madness and succession in Hamlet, Phoebe Nir on Venus and Adonis, Cheryl Eagan-Donovan on de Vere’s travels, Matt Hutchinson on Greene’s Groatsworth of Wit, Richard Waugaman on paradigm shifts in the SAQ, Sky Gilbert on de Vere in Italy, Joella Werlin on the First Folio, Elisabeth Waugaman on King John, Lyle Colombo on Chaucer, John Dee and Hamlet and Tom Townsend who will provide an opening authorship 101 talk on “evidence”.
Speakers making their SOF conference debuts will include Caroline Bauman recalling the life of satirist and Oxfordian Richard Kennedy, Ira Bellew on the meaning of “ever-living”, Jeff Falzone on the Sonnets and Thomas Millar on Oxford and the Cecils.
As well, book collector Stephen Whitehead will be attending the conference (in costume!) displaying and chatting informally about his first edition of Holinshed’s Chronicles.
Book now. Don’t be shut out— if you haven’t yet registered for the 2026 conference, register now.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Presentations will begin on Thursday at 1 pm and will be followed by a wine and cheese reception.
Presentations will continue on Friday and Saturday with Saturday’s events including an awards banquet. The organization’s Annual Business Meeting will take place on Sunday morning, September 27.
The Seattle Harbor boat tour is scheduled for late Friday afternoon, and the optional Union Arts Center production of Hamlet is set for Saturday evening.
2026 Conference Schedule (subject to change):
View full schedule
Thursday, 24 September
Noon to 1 p.m.: Registration
SESSION ONE
Chair: TBA
1:00 -1:05 pm: Welcome: Don Rubin and Brent Evans
1:05-1:35 pm: Tom Townsend: Evidence for the True Shakespeare Authorship 101
1:35-2:15 pm: Caroline Bauman: Remembering Richard Kennedy
2:15-2:20 pm: Discussion/Questions for Caroline
2:20-3:00 pm: Ira Bellew: “Our Ever-Living Poet”: A Study of ‘Ever-Living’ in Early English Print”
3:00-3:05 pm: Discussion/Questions for Ira
3:05-3:35 pm: Refreshment break
SESSION TWO
Chair: TBA
3:35-4:00 pm: Matt Hutchinson: An Unrecognised Shakespearean Allusion in Greene’s Groatsworth of Wit (video)
4:05-4:35 pm: Joella Werlin, Ben Jonson’s First Folio Foolery: Don Quixote reenvisioned as William Shakespeare
4:35-4:50 pm: Discussion/Questions for Joella
4:50-5:15 pm: Jeff Falzone: North by a Handsaw: Identity, Perception, and Strategic Unknowing in Oxford’s Sonnets
5:15-5:20 pm: Discussion/Questions for Jeff
5:20-5:50 pm: Richard M. Waugaman: Paradigm Shifts and the Shakespeare Authorship Question (video)
6:00-7:15 pm: Welcome Reception
• Friday, 25 September
SESSION THREE
Chair: TBA
9:30-10:00 am: Elisabeth Waugaman: King John: Madness, Travel, and Discovery (video)
10:00-10:35 am: Dorothea Dickerman: Catching the Conscience of a Queen: Madness, Succession and Geography in Hamlet
10:35-10:45 am: Discussion/Questions for Dorothea
10:45-11:10 am: Cheryl Eagan-Donovan: Edward de Vere: World Traveler
11:10-11:15 am: Discussion/Questions for Cheryl
11:15-11:50 am: Sky Gilbert: Did Italy Drive Edward de Vere Mad?
11:50-12:00 pm: Discussion/Questions for Sky
12:00-1:15 pm: Buffet lunch
SESSION FOUR
Chair: TBA
1:15-1:45 pm: Michael Dudley: The Oxfordian: New Directions (video)
1:45-2:10pm: Lyle J. Colombo: North-North-West: Chaucer, Dee, and the Lost Origin of Hamlet’s Compass Bearing
2:10-2:15 pm: Discussion/Questions for Lyle
2:15-2:40: Thomas Millar: The Cecils and Oxford: Friends or Foes?
2:40-2:45 pm: Discussion/Questions for Thomas
2:45-3:20 pm: Robert Prechter: Where Was Oxford During the Armada Battle?
3:20-3:30pm: Discussion/Questions for Robert
4:30-6:30 pm: Seattle Harborboat Tour (evening free)
• Saturday 26 September
SESSION FIVE
Chair: TBA
10:00-10:30 am: Roger Stritmatter: By Malice Aforethought: W.W. Greg and E.K. Chambers in the Early History of Oxfordian Studies (video)
10:30-11:05 am: Katherine Chiljan: Ever Sacred To the Muses
11:05-11:10 am: Discussion/Questions for Katherine
11:10-11:40 am: Cheryl Eagan-Donovan: All the World’s a Stage (intro to her film)
11:40 am-12:25 pm: Phoebe Nir: Were Venus and Adonis Really Queen Elizabeth and Edward de Vere?
12:25-12:35 pm: Discussion/Questions for Phoebe
12:35-1:55 pm: Awards lunch
SESSION SIX
Chair: TBA
1:55-2:25 pm: Earl Showerman: The Origins of Shylock (video)
2:25-3:00 pm: Bonner Cutting: The Prince Tudor Theories Restated
3:00-3:10 pm: Discussion/Questions for Bonner
3:10-4:10 pm: Surprise Celebrity Guest (to be announced in August (Don Rubin, moderator for an open Q and A)
4:10-4:40 pm: Refreshment break
4:40-5:15 pm: KEYNOTE PRESENTION
Margo Anderson: Why Did “Shakespeare” Conceal His Name? On heteronyms and those who take them.
5:15-5:25 pm: Discussion/Questions for Margo
7:30 pm: Production of Hamlet at Union Arts Center (optional)
• Sunday 27 September
9:30-11:30 am: SOF Annual General Meeting (for SOF members only)
Coffee/tea will be available
LATE BREAKING NEWS: HAMLET!
Wow. Hamlet will be in town as well.
We just learned that a major new production of Hamlet produced by the Union Arts Center in Seattle — a recent merger of the venerable American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), Seattle Shakespeare and Wooden O (Seattle Shakespeare’s summer company) will open the same day our conference begins.
Because we were sure that many of our people would want to see this production, we have just arranged for 60 discounted tickets for the Saturday evening performance (September 26). Now available for purchase on the SOF website on a first come, first-served basis, the tickets are priced at a significant savings of $50 each. Attendees can purchase up to four tickets at this SOF discount. Tickets will be distributed at the conference.
Hamlet is being directed by Victor Pappas who has appeared on Broadway and has worked as an actor regularly at major regional theatres across the US including ACT, the California Actors Theatre, the New Mexico Repertory Theatre, and at the Oregon, Marin and Sherwood Shakespeare Festivals. Among his many directorial credits are Arthur Miller’s The Price, Harold Pinter’s Old Times, Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart, Tennessee Williams’ Glass Menagerie, George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, the latter for Seattle Shakespeare.
AND ANOTHER OPTION: LIVE STREAM
For those unable to join us in Seattle, please note that we will be live streaming all the presentations taking place at the Grand Hyatt. As with conference registration and the Hamlet tickets, purchase of the live stream is also now available now. Register today.
See you in Seattle!
REGISTRATION
Registration for the full Conference is set at $350. A $25 discount will be given to all SOF members and an additional $25 discount will be given for anyone registering on or before August 23 meaning that for most, the conference cost will actually be $300. The special conference rate is also extended to partners of members. Online attendance is set at a flat $125.
Conference space is, of course, limited by our facilities and our last three conferences in New Orleans, Denver and New Haven were sold out weeks in advance. Book early to insure your place.
VENUE AND LODGING
The 2026 SOF conference will take place at the Grand Hyatt Seattle.
The SOF has negotiated a very special group rate for the conference — $259 per night (single or double). That rate is guaranteed even for the Wednesday before and the Sunday after and should be honored for further extensions. If any problems with your booking, please contact Conference Chair Don Rubin at drubin@yorku.ca and he will try to work his magic to solve them.
Please use the following Hyatt link to book:
https://www.hyatt.com/events/en-US/group-booking/SEAGH/G-SOF6
