Lis's little touch of Shakespeare
Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak

Found an interesting article today about Shakespeare in fantasy. The author has written a few fantasies involving Shakespeare -- books I'll have to find somewhere.

I replied to the author via e-mail, making several points.

• I think there's a lot more "Shakespeariana" in general than she mentioned, and told her about my meta-Shakespeare class.
• Although there hasn't been much fantasy about Shakespeare, he does feature in many mystery novels, such as the Simon Hawke's Shakespeare & Smythe series or Faye Kellerman's Quality of Mercy. Speaking of Shakespeare in fantasy fiction, he's a character in Neil Gaiman's Sandman and in Melissa Scott's Armor of Light, where Marlowe plays a larger role.
• I've noticed that while writers may be overawed by The Bard, Kit Marlowe does seem to be a popular character in fantasy fiction, with a portrayal ranging from doubting Thomas to casual magic user.
    I've been toying with writing an essay of my own about his portrayal in modern fiction, though since I haven't been able to get into Garrett's or Burgess's books (probably the most famous fictional portrayals of him) I've been holding off).
    Why is Marlowe more popular than Shakespeare? He seems to be an Elizabethan James Dean, who lived fast, died young and left not just a good-looking corpse, but also an air of intrigue and mystery. His probable homosexuality seems to fit with modern tastes for diversity. And, since he wrote the fantasy Dr. Faustus and was believed to associate with the School of Night, it gives authors a hook to associate him with other fantastical elements.

I also asked her for other books she recommends.

I've already gotten a response back (you know, authors are generally quite good about writing replies to emails), which I don't have time to fully answer at the moment. Still, interesting article, and I haven't posted enough to this journal yet...