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2006 - The Winner
A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
- James Shapiro
‘The best book for many years about Shakespeare… fascinating’
John Mortimer, Observer (Books of the Year)
James Shapiro was tonight (Wednesday 14 June) named as the
winner of the 2006 BBC FOUR Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction
for his book, 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare,
published by Faber & Faber.
Shapiro was inspired by two experiences: seeing the 1998
film Shakespeare in Love; and reading a book review
by the celebrated Shakespearian scholar Simon Jarvis in which,
fed up with what he called the ‘deadening convention’ of ‘total’ biographies,
he made a plea for ‘partial ones’. Shapiro
turned a decade’s worth of notes on the year 1599 into
just that – a ‘partial’ biography based
on a single year in the life of William Shakespeare.
In the course of 1599, Shakespeare turned 35. Before
the end of the year, he had completed Henry V, written Julius
Caesar and As You Like It in quick succession,
and produced the first draft of his greatest play, Hamlet. If Shakespeare
in Love playfully imagined how Shakespeare was inspired
to write Romeo and Juliet, Shapiro was determined
to show how The Bard progressed from his tale of two star-crossed
lovers to Hamlet. Shapiro finds one question
the most pressing: how did Shakespeare become Shakespeare
- and in so doing, thereby become one of the greatest writers
who ever lived?
Most scholars agree that 1599 was a decisive year for Shakespeare – the
year that he fulfilled his promise and became a writer of
genius. Shapiro links the plays written in this year
with events in Shakespeare’s personal life, and the
social and political issues of the time - and reveals how
Shakespeare tackled these issues in his work.
In 1599, Shakespeare became a partner in the newly-built
Globe Theatre; England became entangled in a war with Ireland;
a fear of invasion by a new Spanish Armada became a real
and present danger; and works by Marlowe and Nashe were publicly
burnt. Through this vivid history, Shapiro celebrates
not only the Shakespeare whose appeal has bridged centuries
and fuelled a 400-year obsession, but also a Shakespeare
who was inspired and challenged by his own age.
“As a yarn, this is up there with The Da Vinci
Code – but in 1599 it’s all true!” Sir
Ian McKellen
‘Quite brilliant. By concentrating its focus on
a single year of Shakespeare’s life, it gives a whole
large picture of his life, time and achievement. Wonderful.’ Andrew
Motion
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, James Shapiro received
his B.A. from Columbia University (1977) before receiving
his Ph.D from the University of Chicago (1982). Shapiro is
a Professor of English at Columbia University, New York. He
reviews regularly in The New York Times Book Review,
was a visiting scholar at the New Globe Theatre and has lectured
on Shakespeare and his times all over the world. He is the
author of Rival Playwrights, Shakespeare and
the Jews, and Oberammergau: The Troubling Story
of the World’s Most Famous Passion Play. He is
married, has an eight-year-old son, and divides his time
between New York City and Thetford, Vermont.
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