We are happy to announce that we are bringing back our Vineland Poetry Podcast! We have posted seven new poems since our hiatus and we’re not stopping now. Back in April of 2010, we started a weekly podcast where staff members would read a variety of poems for our customer’s listening pleasure. Over two years have passed and we’ve returned with the posting of our 70^thpoem! That’s 70 poems read by our library staff! We have a huge collection of recorded poems from the short and funny to the long and dramatic, including favorites from Poe, Shakespeare, Frost, Dickinson, and more. We’ve also included links to our catalog so you can check out books of poetry from the highlighted author. We hope you’ll visit our page and scroll through our poems to give some of them a listen. Thanks again for listening and we hope you enjoy our Vineland Poetry Podcast! 

If you haven't had the opportunity to see any of Shakespeare's tales brought to life recently, you won't want to miss the chance to see "Macbeth" as done by Shakespeare on Tour!

You will become entranced the gripping tale of the tragic consequences of misguided ambition. The five member cast plays all of the roles convincingly, as they quick-change from scene to scene, often speaking directly to the audience, further drawing them into to the magic of the misty heaths, the brutal actions, and the bloody politics of old Scotland. The believability of the play is enhanced by the careful use of music and sound effects, and the spare use of props and simple costume changes. The script is a 55 minute adaptation of Macbeth, performed in Shakespeare's original text, that was created by director Rebecca J. Ennals.
 

Please check their web site to see when their next performances will be!

The new movie Anonymous fictionally advances the notion that William Shakespeare didn’t write the plays that history has attributed to him. So who did actually write these plays, according to the movie? Today’s most popular alleged Shakespeare ghost-writer, Edward de Vere. Why has Shakespeare been considered the author for so long and not the rightful de Vere, according to the movie? Apparently because of a conspiracy begun during the cloak-and-dagger regime of Queen Elizabeth I.

The question “Who wrote Shakespeare?” has been written about since the early 1800’s but seems to be increasingly embraced by a conspiracy-craving popular culture (this movie Anonymous, PBS Frontline's Much Ado About Something, novels such as Chasing Shakespeares, etc.). Candidates alleged to be the real Shakespeare are de Vere, also known as the Earl of Oxford; Francis Bacon; Christopher Marlowe; and a host of others, including Elizabeth I.

If you are interested in this question, I can recommend two entertaining books on the subject —

Contested Will by James Shapiro — also available via Link+ request (what is Link+?)

This book is a good starting point for those who are as yet uncommitted on the question of Shakespeare authorship. 

The book examines why there is a question of authorship, why many think a theater man incapable of writing the plays, the nature of conspiracies, why the question has persisted for such a long time, and many other topics.
It is a good introduction that covers in detail the claims of Oxford and Bacon. But Shapiro is a Shakespeare scholar, and this book does not hide his opinion that William Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon wrote the plays and poems attributed to him.

 Who Wrote Shakespeare? by John Michell

This book is a fine introduction to popular as well as seemingly lesser candidates to the real Shakespeare that have been proposed by conspiracists over the past two centuries.
Michell opens with an analysis of the characteristics possessed by the author of the Shakespeare plays and then marshals evidence for each candidate, including William Shakespeare, with regard to these characteristics in an even-handed, objective but enjoyable way. Some of the author's conclusions might not be as definitive as we would prefer, but this is because the question is not an easy one.

Of course, the library contains many more titles about this subject, including books written in support of an individual candidate such as de Vere or Marlowe.

For a quick online overview of this subject, see Wikipedia’s article on the Shakespeare Authorship Question.

For more authoritative and in-depth articles on the subject, see Shakespeare Authorship articles via EBSCOhost. Note: you will need to log in with your San José library card/PIN.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, what do you think? Take our poll and/or drop us a comment.

Join us with the whole family for a lively, one hour production of Macbeth by San Francisco’s own Shakespeare on Tour. This is a great production for students to see one of Shakespeare's great plays come to life - or for anyone who wants to revisit the magic of a Shakespeare play.

Dr. Martin Luther King Library, October 20th, 6:30pm

Cambrian Branch, November 16th, 6:00pm

Willow Glen Branch, November 19th, 2:00pm

Berryessa Branch, December 14th, 6:00pm

In early April, the Library will present two performances of Shakespeare's play The Tempest (read watch listen), specially adapted for families. These 55-minute shows feature professional actors, hand-painted sets, and captivating costumes, all designed to make Shakespeare accessible to children while keeping the excitement of the original productions.  Please join us at King Library, Room 225, on April 3 at 5:30 pm, or at Almaden Branch on April 6 at 6:00 pm. Stay afterward for a post-show Q&A with the actors!