Masters of the Bench

Emma Smith is Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, Oxford. Her work focuses on the reception of Shakespeare in print, production, and criticism. She loves talking about this given half a chance - in schools, literary societies, rehearsal rooms, festivals, and libraries, and on radio. Her most recent books are This is Shakespeare (2019) and Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers (2022). Her current work is on an edition of Shakespeare's Middle Temple play, Twelfth Night, for the Arden Shakespeare.