Jodi Picoult: By Any Other Name

What if the greatest writer of all time isn't who we think he is?

Four hundred years apart, in Elizabethan England and contemporary Manhattan, two women playwrights must write themselves out of history so their stories can be staged. 

Known globally for 30 smash-hit novels including My Sister’s Keeper, Nineteen Minutes and The Pact, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult makes her first foray into historical fiction with By Any Other Name, reframing the origin story of some of theatre’s most enduring plays. 

In bringing to life Emilia Bassano, the woman many believe was the real writer behind the works of William Shakespeare, Jodi explores the price Emilia paid to have her works immortalised, though her own identity was buried. 

Centuries later, Manhattan playwright Melina Green writes a new work inspired by the life of her ancestor, Emilia Bassano. Their connection goes beyond familial as Melina herself is faced with the decision to forfeit her credit so that her play can be staged. 

Join beloved American novelist Jodi Picoult as she returns to Australia for the first time in eight years to talk with Holly Wainwright about this sweeping tale of two women’s ambition and courage in the face of prejudice.