Coinciding with the release of their new book, The Shakespeare Ladies Club: The Forgotten Women Who Rescued the Bawdy Bard, Jonathan and Christine Hainsworth will be appearing at the Sturminster Newton Literary Festival in Dorset on Tuesday 10 June.
Following Shakespeare’s death in 1616, a group of women were crucial in ensuring the work of the Bard was not forgotten. This was the Shakespeare Ladies Club. Formed in 1736, the club was a quartet of ‘Women of Quality’; three from the aristocracy and one a writer who ran a stationery shop, all educated, progressive, and so enraptured by the plays of William Shakespeare that they met to read and discuss his transcendent genius.
The founder of the Club was Susanna Ashley-Cooper, the 4th Countess of Shaftesbury, who lived at St Giles House, Wimborne St Giles in Dorset. Jonathan and Christine Hainsworth will be travelling from Adelaide in Australia to discuss the Shakespeare Ladies Club and their research as part of their book launch week.
Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth at Sturminster Newton Literary Festival
Tuesday 10 June, 6:30pm
The Exchange, Sturminster Newton
1 Old Market Hill
Sturminster Newton
Tickets are available via Ticket Source or 1855, Market Cross, Sturminster Newton