Deborah Harkness: A Discovery of Witches

Deborah Harkness: A Discovery of Witches

In 1994, Deborah Harkness was doing research at Oxford University’s Bodleian Library when she stumbled across the Book of Soyga, a long-lost manuscript treatise on magic that once belonged to Elizabethan scientist and occult philosopher John Dee. About fourteen years later, she had an idea for a story: a historian—who turns out to be a witch—discovers a lost and much-coveted manuscript that thrusts her into a world of vampires, demons, and magic. Harkness’s idea became A Discovery of Witches, the first book of her All Souls Trilogy. The novel is now a television series starring Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode. The show comes to AMC and BBC America on April 7. We asked Harkness to join us on Shakespeare Unlimited to talk about how her research influenced her fiction writing and to tell us about how witches, demons, and the supernatural were perceived in Shakespeare’s England. Dr. Deborah Harkness is a teaching professor of history at the University of Southern California. She is the author of John Dee’s Conversations with Angels and The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution, as well as the All Souls Trilogy, originally published by Viking Press for Penguin Books. Harkness is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published March 19, 2019. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “Excellent Witchcraft” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer. We had technical help from Shawn Corey Campbell and Bianca Ramirez at KPCC Public Radio in Pasadena, California.

Jaksot(297)

Kenny Leon on his "Much Ado About Nothing"

Kenny Leon on his "Much Ado About Nothing"

Director Kenny Leon’s production of "Much Ado About Nothing" mesmerized audiences during last summer’s Shakespeare in the Park. Now, you can watch this exuberant, sassy, and political performance, sta...

26 Marras 201928min

Women Performers in Shakespeare's Time

Women Performers in Shakespeare's Time

Think there were no women onstage in Shakespeare’s time? Think again. We talk to scholar Clare McManus about where and how women performed in early modern Europe: emerging from mechanical seashells in...

12 Marras 201935min

Mark Haddon on The Porpoise

Mark Haddon on The Porpoise

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time author Mark Haddon’s books take twists and turns that sometimes seem to only make sense in the context of his stories. Shakespeare’s Pericles takes t...

29 Loka 201935min

Shakespeare in Immigrant New York

Shakespeare in Immigrant New York

In the 19th century, a new influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Italy arrived in the United States. Many of them settled in the Lower Manhattan. Reformers wondered how these new arrivals could...

15 Loka 201931min

Groundbreaking Discovery: John Milton's Copy of Shakespeare

Groundbreaking Discovery: John Milton's Copy of Shakespeare

In September, the world of literary scholarship got some big news. It was discovered that a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, housed in the Free Library of Philadelphia, once belonged to John Milton,...

1 Loka 201934min

Iqbal Khan

Iqbal Khan

“If, with Shakespeare, we can thrill and tease an audience into embracing unknowing, that is one of the most important gifts that we can give,” says director Iqbal Khan. Khan has directed at Shakespea...

17 Syys 201935min

Shakespeare and Opera, with Colleen Fay

Shakespeare and Opera, with Colleen Fay

It’s not easy to turn a Shakespeare’s play into an opera, says Colleen Fay. They have too many words, too many characters, and too many plots. But sometimes, when it all comes together, a great opera ...

3 Syys 201932min

Othello and Blackface (rebroadcast)

Othello and Blackface (rebroadcast)

In Act 3, scene 4 of Othello, Othello tells Desdemona that the handkerchief he gave her was “dyed in mummy.” What does that mean? According to Lafayette College’s Ian Smith, it means the handkerchief ...

20 Elo 201935min

Suosittua kategoriassa Premium

nikotellen
anni-jaajo
tuplakaak
jaljilla
antin-matka
grekovit
hei-baby-3
maanantaimysteeri
sita
terveisia-perheesta
olipa-kerran-otsikko
kaksi-aitia
murhan-anatomia
palmujen-varjoissa
the-harlin-show
ihme-ja-kumma
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
backmanholmavuo
i-dont-like-mondays
ihan-oikeesti