628 Meet the Woman Who REALLY Wrote Shakespeare's Plays (with Jodi Picoult) | My Last Book with Allison Pataki

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

Books, Arts, History

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2024

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Is it really true? Did the Elizabethan poet Emilia Bassano (sometimes known as Aemelia Lanyer) actually write Shakespeare's works? A bestselling novelist thinks so - and she's turned her research-based theories into an entertaining and thought-provoking work of fiction. In this episode, Jacke talks to Jodi Picoult about her new book BY ANY OTHER NAME, which tells the story of a modern-day playwright who discovers her ancestor Emilia Bassano's tantalizing connection to Shakespeare and the works traditionally ascribed to him. PLUS Allison Pataki (Finding Margaret Fuller) stops by to discuss her choice for the last book she will ever read. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podgolomorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:07.0	Hello, stop the presses, the debate is over. We now know definitively that William Shakespeare was
0:18.0	not the author of all the great works we have traditionally assigned to him. Well, not quite, not quite so fast, but that's the premise of a new novel by the brilliant best-selling author Jody Pico. And sorry, Oxfordians, sorry Baconians, sorry Marlovians, well,
0:39.7	you, your guy might have some part to play in this, but the star of the show, our new literary
0:46.4	queen in Pico's novel, is an old friend of ours here at the History of Literature
0:52.1	Podcast, we've called her Amelia Lagner.
0:55.2	Another name for her is Amelia Bissano. And Pico has placed her at the heart of her new novel along with Bassano's 21st century
1:06.4	descendant a modern day playwright trying to forge her own path in a male-dominated theatrical world.
1:15.0	We'll talk to the author about why she went down this rabbit hole,
1:19.2	what she found there, and the narrative that she brought back.
1:24.0	Jody Pico, plus my last book with Allison Pataki,
1:28.0	today on the history of literature. Okay, here we go.
1:37.0	Welcome to the podcast.
1:38.0	This is a fun conversation today, the Shakespeare authorship question.
1:44.0	There are elements of this debate that I find a little tiresome sometimes and then there are aspects of it that I find completely invigorating.
1:56.0	Today is pure invigoration and I'll explain why.
2:00.4	Jody Pico is such a warm and charming person with infectious enthusiasm.
2:07.8	She has latched on to the theory that Shakespeare's plays, at least some of them, may have been written by Amelia Bassano.
2:15.2	A quick refresher, if you're not familiar, Amelia Bassano has long been put forward
2:20.4	as inspiring, being the inspiration for the Dark Lady in Shakespeare sonnets.
2:27.0	She was born in 1569 in London to an Italian family. Her father was a musician brought from Italy to London to be a musician in the Royal Court of Elizabeth the first.
2:40.0	Bissano was also a poet, we know that. She was the first woman in England to put her own name on her poetry.
	...

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