Setting the Record Straight!

Dear NYU Shakespeareans and Sage Readers:

My recent posting informing you all of a then up-coming Shakespeare research session at NYPL, has prompted a flurry of reactions from readers beyonds the confines of our humble class. My email inbox has been flooded recently by a number of inquiring missives expressing concern over the issue of "free thought" in this course, as it relates to the question of Shakespeare's identity, personage and authorship.

The source of this consternation is the following passage that was lifted from the course description for the NYPL Shakespeare research session:

"Requirements: 1. A conviction that the plays of Shakespeare were written by Shakespeare. 2. A belief that the works of Shakespeare constitute one of the cornerstones of world literature."

I hope to here address, once and for all, that:

a.) These words are NOT mine, they were in fact lifted directly from the NYPL website/course catalog.
b.) Students in the NYU American Shakespeare Seminar are not required to hold any specific views of any kind, on 'Shakespeare' or any other subject
c.) The NYPL Shakespeare Research session was an optional course event, and is not in anyway connected to the NYU "American Shakespeare" seminar.
d.) The facilitator of the NYPL Shakespeare Research session is in no way connected to the NYU "American Shakespeare" Seminar, and his statements do not express the views of The Shakespeare Diva.

The Shakespeare Diva has always been a proponent of "free thought," and being a proud product of the X-Files generation advocates and promotes active questioning and healthy debate in all circumstances!

When time permits, after the ides of March, The Shakespeare Diva will muse upon the authorship question, or rather her favorite aspect of the authorship question, i.e., her near obsessive fascination with leading anti-Stratfordian, Delia Bacon.

Bardily yours,
Alycia Smith-Howard, "The Shakespeare Diva"