My Place: walking in The Bard's footsteps in Stratford
Today, I have another fascinating place to show you: historical fiction author D.K. Marley follows Shakespeare's trail in Stratford-upon-Avon! I've not been there, so I was intrigued.
So without much further ado, here's what she has to say...
She is a true Stratfordian (despite the topic of her novel "Blood and Ink"), a Marlowe fan, a member of the Marlowe Society, the Shakespeare Fellowship and a signer of the Declaration of Intent for the Shakespeare Authorship Debate. Her new series titled "The Fractured Shakespeare Series" will tackle adapting each play into a historical fiction novel. She has traveled to England three times for intensive research and debate workshops and is a graduate of the intense training workshop "The Writer's Retreat Workshop" founded by Gary Provost and hosted by Jason Sitzes. She is also writes for "The Jabberwocky Blog" on Wordpress. She lives in Georgia with her husband and a Scottish Terrier named Maggie.
(All images author's own.)
Thank you so much for this fascinating post. I love writing about places I've explored. It gives you that little bit of extra inspiration, and authenticity.
So without much further ado, here's what she has to say...
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| (c) D.K. Marley |
Stratford-upon-Avon
I held my breath as the train pulled up the station in Stratford-upon-Avon. I looked out the window and my eye fixed on the sign above the station door. No mistaking, I was here, about to walk in the footsteps of Shakespeare. I am sure I looked the ordinary tourist-type with wide eyes looking around every tree and brushing my fingertips through bushes as I walked up toward the town center from the train, almost as if anticipating meeting the very man himself. Which was fine with me and I freely admit to the giddy swirling in my stomach, especially as I reached the streets where Shakespeare might have actually walked. Well, where he did walk!
My first thoughts – I wanted to stand right there for a moment and not say a word. At each place – the house on Henley Street, his birthplace; the Guildhall, the King Edward's School, Trinity Church, Clopton Bridge, the Avon River – all places where he might have stood in the very same place.
Walking along the banks of the Avon, leaning against a willow tree and watching the swans glide regally with the current, I wondered how many times he did the same and conjured up one of his characters. As a writer, the thought moved me and inspired me at the same time.
Many people have asked me why I feel such a connection to this city. Honestly, I am not really sure except that I have loved Shakespeare's writing since I was very young. My grandmother loved the plays and we shared the same affinity for literature and writing. She gave me my first book of Shakespeare's works, her very own college book, when I was eleven and still to this day I relish seeing the little notations in her own handwriting in the margins about her favorite passages.
Other people have asked me why I decided to write a novel about the possibility that Shakespeare did not write the plays and my answer is always the same.
I am a Stratfordian, and always will be a Stratfordian, but I am also a historical fiction author. When presented with an opportunity and an idea to create a work, I will run with it. I never before even heard of someone else writing the plays, but once, after visiting the Globe Theater, I saw a presentation there of the men who might have written them instead of Shakespeare himself. Christopher Marlowe's eyes drew me in, and the novel emerged in my thoughts.
With all this being said and all of the words written and published, I still do not question my belief that Shakespeare is actually the man who wrote the plays. After all, who am I to question? I just thought the idea of Marlowe writing other than Shakespeare made for a creative alternative historical story to the one presented as fact.
So, my writing the story did not detract me away from the city, but drew me to it even more. Touching my fingertips onto the surface of the waters, walking slow through the room where he played as a child, standing at the edge of the grave where he is buried – all these things helped me with the writing of my story “Blood and Ink,” the same as walking through Canterbury to learn about Marlowe drew me to him.
It's what historical fiction writers should do and what I highly recommend. Research on Google is one thing. Stepping your foot on the same ground as your characters is a very different experience entire. I stopped at the Windmill Inn/Pub which is only a few hundred yards away from where Shakespeare lived, so I sat there and imagined him jawing with some of this friends over a pint of ale, perhaps, Burbage? Perhaps, Jonson? And so, I downed a pint of my own and soaked in the literary air, hoping, nay praying some of the artistic inspiration might seep into my own brain.
I must say, as well, the draw of Shakespeare is well founded there, but even without this attraction, the city itself is incredibly beautiful. The half-timbered houses still standing, the gentle flow of the Avon, the peaceful swans... all the while laying back in the grass in the shadow of the Swan Theatre where the Royal Shakespeare Company still upholds the quality and caliber of acting and performance the man, Shakespeare, first envisioned when he set his quill to paper. You will fall in love with this city, when you visit, as did I. And, to be completely honest, I wept as I walked back down Alcester Road to the station that evening. I felt I was leaving home.
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About the Author:
D. K. Marley is a historical fiction author and blogger specializing in Shakespearean themes in her novels. Her grandmother, an English professor, gave her a volume of Shakespeare's plays when she was eleven, inspiring DK to delve further into the rich Elizabethan language. Eleven years ago she began the research leading to the publication of her first novel "Blood and Ink," an epic tale of lost dreams, spurned love, jealousy and deception in Tudor England as the two men, William Shakespeare and Kit Marlowe, fight for one name and the famous works now known as the Shakespeare Folio.
She is a true Stratfordian (despite the topic of her novel "Blood and Ink"), a Marlowe fan, a member of the Marlowe Society, the Shakespeare Fellowship and a signer of the Declaration of Intent for the Shakespeare Authorship Debate. Her new series titled "The Fractured Shakespeare Series" will tackle adapting each play into a historical fiction novel. She has traveled to England three times for intensive research and debate workshops and is a graduate of the intense training workshop "The Writer's Retreat Workshop" founded by Gary Provost and hosted by Jason Sitzes. She is also writes for "The Jabberwocky Blog" on Wordpress. She lives in Georgia with her husband and a Scottish Terrier named Maggie.
Links:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/dkmarley.author
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/therealDKMarley
BLOG: https://slayingthejabberwocky.wordpress.com
Buy Link:
“Blood and Ink” -
(All images author's own.)
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Thank you so much for this fascinating post. I love writing about places I've explored. It gives you that little bit of extra inspiration, and authenticity.
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