Author Talk: “Shakespeare Was a Woman & Other Heresies” with Journalist Elizabeth Winkler & Actor Mark Rylance

• Books & Literature
• Free
• History
• Performing Arts

This program is in-person. Join the 53rd Street Library and journalist Elizabeth Winkler with Academy Award-winning actor Mark Rylance for an “extraordinarily brilliant” and “pleasurably naughty” (André Aciman) investigation into the Shakespeare authorship question, exploring how doubting that William Shakespeare wrote his plays became an act of blasphemy…and who the Bard might really be.

Presenting her book, Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies, Winkler will explore with Rylance the theory that Shakespeare may not have written the works that bear his name. Scholars admit that the Bard’s biography is a “black hole,” yet to publicly question the identity of the god of English literature is unacceptable, even (some say) “immoral.” Winkler sets out to probe the origins of this literary taboo, the conflicting views, and the evidence concerning the authorship of the plays and poems traditionally credited to William Shakespeare. “Lively” (The Washington Post), “fascinating” (Amanda Foreman), and “intrepid” (Stacy Schiff), Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies will forever change how you think of Shakespeare…and of how we as a society decide what’s up for debate and what’s just heresy.

Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form shortly before the program.