Anne-thology: Poem Re-Presenting Anne Shakespeare

On the heels of his award-winning book of poems, The Trembling Tiber, a black poet’s musing on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Poet Neal Hall was honored to be amongst the 67 diverse poets – one for each year of Anne Shakespeare’s life – selected to compose and contribute a poem about Anne Hathaway published in this first of its kind compilation: Anne-thology: Poems Re-Presenting Anne Shakespeare.

Hall was chosen because he is an award-winning, widely published poet whose poetry demonstrated an engagement with Shakespeare’s work along with his championing equality, inclusivity and justice. Hall’s commissioned poem – Anne (Agnes) Hathaway Shakespeare – can be found on page 49.

Anne-thology provides Anne a place in the canon of her own right. The anthology ensures the quatercentenary of Anne’s death will not simply be elided in favor of the sole memorialization of her more renowned dramatist-husband. In setting Anne free from the restrictions of being, simply, ‘Shakespeare’s wife’, this collection not only excavates a previously hidden historiography of poetical reimaginings of this enigmatic figure but brings to the fore a kaleidoscope of new Annes, reflecting today’s broad variety of female and female-identifying perspectives, social identities, sexualities, ethnic backgrounds, and national or regional affiliations.

The link to purchase is: https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/anne-thology. All proceeds from the book will be donated to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, a charity supporting events and educational initiatives for children.