In celebration of our forthcoming release of John Aubrey’s Lives of Eminent Men, with a foreword by Ruth Scurr, and our new series Brief Lives, to be inaugurated in January with titles on Anton Chekhov, Oscar Wilde and Charles Dickens, we’re awarding books to Hesperus Press readers who submit their own brief lives of contemporary eminent men (or women). Here’s a lesson from the master of the genre, John Aubrey:
Mr William Shakespeare was born at Stratford upon Avon in the county of Warwick. His father was a butcher, and I have been told heretofore by some of the neighbours, that when he was a boy he exercised his father’s trade, but when he killed a calf he would do it in a high style, and make a speech.
Competition is already stiff, and among the strongest entries thus far is a fantastic take on the rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard. I think it’s safe to say that we weren’t expecting that one!
Drop your entries to enquiries AT hesperuspress DOT com; winners will be announced in the next issue of the magazine, to be published in a month.
Ellie
