October 17-20, 2019 – Mark Twain House & Museum – Hartford, CT
The program committee of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship invites proposals for papers to be presented in October at our annual conference at the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, CT, October 17-20. The First Call deadline for paper proposals for this year’s SOF conference is June 1. Final Call submissions are due August 1.
Paper proposals should be 100-300 words in length and may be sent to Earl Showerman at earlees@charter.net. Proposals that address topics listed below will be given preference:
- Mark Twain and the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
- Legitimization of the SAQ in academia, in secondary education, and with the media.
- Deficiencies in the traditional attribution of authorship with a focus on the abundance of erudition and rare sources manifest in the Shakespeare canon such as Shakespeare’s familiarity with Italy; his proficiency in Latin, Greek, Italian, French, and Spanish languages; his knowledge of music, law, history, medicine, military and nautical terms, etc.
- Revelations of Oxford’s life (or another candidate) that support his authorship of the Shakespeare canon, including new documentary discoveries, new interpretation of documents or literary works that affect authorship, Shakespeare characters that relate to Oxford’s biography (e.g., William Cecil/Polonius in Hamlet), new facts on Oxford’s travel, education, books, and connections, or new evidence for dating of a play or poem.
- Historical information relevant to the SAQ and/or people of the era with literary, theatrical, political or social relevance to the Shakespeare canon, Oxford, or Shakspere of Stratford (e.g., Jonson, Southampton, Essex).
Presentations customarily should be designed to be delivered in 30 – 45 minutes, including time for questions and answers. Proposals submitted by members of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship, De Vere Society, or other Shakespeare-related educational institutions will be given special consideration in selecting conference papers.
In 2018, the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship Conference included a debate on the identity of the Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. The program committee is open to supporting another debate in 2019 and welcomes proposals that include the subject to be debated and the parties who have agreed to participate.
