Before computers, expertise in the field of text analysis was the domain of men like Vassar professor Don Foster. Foster, nicknamed a “literary detective” for his work with the F.B.I. on matters including the Unabomber and JonBenet Ramsey cases, comes to the UMass-Amherst Renaissance Center for a lecture entitled “Suspected Shakespeares: Papers and Performances in Early Modern Attribution Studies.”
Delving into the theoretical and methodological issues involved in examining written works of debatable origin, Foster, who also is notable for his part in the outing of Joe Klein as the author of the originally anonymously published book Primary Colors, speaks on his work in studying the attribution of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Other presenters discuss attribution problems with Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and the authorship of The Booke of Sir Thomas More.
March 8, 9 a.m., free, lunch is provided, The Renaissance Center, 650 East Pleasant St., Amherst, (413) 577-3600, renaissance@english.umass.edu.
tsturm@valleyadvocate.com