Thomas Nashe and His Contemporaries (symposium)

For more past programming from the Folger Institute, please see the article Folger Institute scholarly programs archive.

This was a fall 2017 symposium.

Co-sponsored with “The Thomas Nashe Project” funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK), this symposium explores the works and significance of Thomas Nashe (1567 – c.1600), an innovative writer whose influence on prose extends well beyond his own period. Nashe was also a significant dramatist, collaborating with Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare, while his bitter quarrel with the humanist educator, Gabriel Harvey, and his part in the Marprelate controversy expanded the possibilities of English invective and satire. Showcasing the Folger’s exceptional manuscript and print collection of his writings, the symposium will help recover Nashe and his world—especially London, Cambridge, and Great Yarmouth. Session topics will include geographies, oral/aural culture, genres, drama, popular culture, and pamphlets; two dozen participants with relevant projects will be welcomed to join the conversation.

Organizers: Professors Jennifer Richards (Newcastle University), Andrew Hadfield (University of Sussex), Cathy Shrank (University of Sheffield), Joseph Black (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), and Kate De Rycker (Newcastle University) represent “The Thomas Nashe Project,” which will produce a new, multi-volume edition of Nashe’s works for Oxford University Press. They have developed this symposium in collaboration with Drs. Kathleen Lynch and Owen Williams of the Folger Institute.