Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 4, April 2003

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Literary snoops seek 'Shakespeare's Fingerprints'

By MATTHEW PREUSCH

Two University of Washington professors have turned literary detectives, digging through reams of Renaissance poetry and drama to unearth the true author of the works of William Shakespeare.

The two, Michael Brame and his wife, Galina Popova, are authors of a recently published book titled "Shakespeare's Fingerprints." The book posits that the Bard of Avon was merely a nom-de-plume for an English nobleman, Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, who lived from 1550-1604.

De Vere's "fingerprints," they say, are literally all over the works of Shakespeare.

Brame and Popova have joined a small group of skeptics who doubt that the historical figure William of Stratford penned Shakespeare's works.

Sigmund Freud and Walt Whitman have been among those over the centuries who have questioned Shakespeare's authorship claims.

And while Brame and Popova's book, published last December by Vashon Island press Adonis Editions, has yet to raise a stir among scholars, the two are obviously enjoying their roles as literary gadflies.

"We're willing to debate anybody, anywhere and at any time, if we can get there," said Brame.

The couple bring decades of academic work to the task. Popova, a petite Russian immigrant, studied literary forgery at Leningrad University in St. Petersburg. In 1989, she fled the country with her family, landing first in Italy and then in Utah, where she taught Russian language and literature at Brigham Young University.

In 1993, she moved to Seattle for graduate studies at the University of Washington. After graduation, she spent a year in Utah before returning in 1999. Currently, the 41-year-old is a professor in the UW's Department of Slavic Languages and Literature.

Brame, 59, has a background was somewhat more domestic. Raised in San Antonio, he still wears cowboy boots with his professor's uniform of v-neck sweaters and sport coats. He has been teaching linguistics at the UW for 33 years, though he has had teaching stints in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.Brame said he had been contemplating a book on Shakespeare for about 10 years, and put together a short manuscript over that time. When he met Popova, he gave her the text, and the two decided to collaborate on the project.

"Fingerprints" is the first installment in the couple's planned three-part series on Shakespeare's works. They are also writing a novel together, a historical whodunit based loosely on the love life of Queen Elizabeth.

The two married two years ago, and Popova's parents recently joined the couple in their two-story U-District home, so they have had plenty of help with their one-year old daughter, Alexandra, leaving plenty of time for research.

"So now we're really indulging our reading, because they take care of everything," said Popova.

Each has an adult child from a previous marriage. Popova's daughter, Nelly Samoukova, 20, is a junior at the UW, where she is studying French and medieval history. Brame's daughter, Roxanne, 35, is an instructor at the UW who teaches English-as-a Second-Language courses.

Brame and Popova hope their books will broaden scholars' horizons on the works of Shakespeare, inspiring them to seek out works by the same author that may have been lost because they were penned under a different name.

"That means there is more literature by Shakespeare to read" than previously thought, said Popova.