The Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon Would be Pleased

I had planned to go to a presentation last night at the Huntington Library in San Marino, twenty-five miles or so from my house. The topic of the lecture was the Robben Island Shakespeare.

There is a vibrant online community of writers from South Africa on Facebook and other social media.  They occasionally read my blog and others. They will know about Robben Island, a small piece of rock off the western coast of Cape Town, South Africa. Since the 17^th century it has served as home to political prisoners, although now it is a museum. It’s most notable resident as of late was Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela. Mandela and at least two other residents or Robben Island went on to serve as president of South Africa, including Jacob Zuma, the current president.

This past Sunday an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times tells the story of the Robben Island Shakespeare, a 1970 paperback edition of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. One of the inmates, Sonny Venkatrathnam, was able to get it onto the island, convincing the warden that it was a Hindu religious text (really?). It was passed from prisoner to prisoner, and Venkatrathnam asked each one to sign their name next to a text that had particular meaning for them. Nelson Madela’s signature is in the book, as are the names of thirty-four other prisoners.

What I find interesting is that Shakespeare’s words—some three-hundred years old—reached across cultures and centuries, and had meaning for these men. It makes sense. When you are being housed in the most mind-numbing conditions, you can find meaning in a cockroach crawling across the floor, let alone the words of one of the most famous English-speaking authors.

“Somehow Shakespeare always had something to say to us,” said Ahmed Kathrada, one of the prisoners.

Unfortunately the lecture was postponed because the presenter, David Schalkwyk, director of research at the Folger Shakespeare Library, had his flight cancelled. I will be looking for the event when it is rescheduled. I will let you know about it. In the meantime, I am going to try and write something that will have meaning to someone in three-hundred years.

P.S.: Check out the most recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine for their article on the horrors of solitary confinement. You’ll have to get a copy. I can’t figure out a way to link to it.

See ya’ later.

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