Bestselling Author Jodi Picoult on Elevating Women's Voices
Never afraid to tackle tough topics, Picoult addresses gender discrimination and Shakespeare in her new novel, 'By Any Other Name'
Have you ever wondered if Shakespeare actually wrote all the plays, sonnets and poems attributed to him?
Author Jodi Picoult, 58, has — it's the topic of her latest novel, "By Any Other Name."
Although she's currently on a world tour (Yes, world. Her novels have hit the top spot of the New York Times Best Sellers List 29 times), Picoult, who lives in New York, took the time to answer questions about herself, her writing career and her new book, surely stirring up lots of interesting conversations in colleges, universities, coffee shops and the like all over the globe.
The following is our interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Next Avenue: How did you get into writing? Had you always wanted to be a writer? When did the 'writing bug' get you?
Jodi Picoult: My mom will tell you that I wrote my first book at five, it was called "The Lobster that was Misunderstood." I illustrated it too. I always loved writing, but I never expected to make a living as a writer. I didn't know anyone who'd succeeded at that!
"I write about the things that keep me up at night."
Did you hold any jobs before you became a writer? If so, what were they?
I worked on Wall Street as a financial analyst for three months before the stock market crashed in October 1987. Then I moved to Massachusetts (where the guy I was dating lived — good move, because I married him) and worked as a copywriter at an ad agency, taught creative writing at a private school, then earned a M.Ed. from Harvard and taught eighth-grade English at a public school.
How many books did you write before you had one published?
One, it was the creative thesis I wrote at Princeton. [Where she earned her undergraduate degree in English and creative writing.]
You write about such a wide variety of subjects — race relations, abortion, autism and so many others. How do you decide what you want to write about? Do you keep a list of ideas?
I write about the things that keep me up at night. If I am still worried after a few nights, it's probably a good idea for a book. Based on what's going on in my life, different topics spur my interest or anxiety.
How would you describe the plot of "By Any Other Name" to readers?
It's about how women have been written out of history by the men who have been writing it.
It follows two women: in 1581, Emilia Bassano is a real-life historical figure — a female playwright —who can't get her work in front of the public because she is a female. So she pays a man for the use of his name, and that man happens to be William Shakespeare.
It's also about, in 2024, her fictional descendant Melina Green, another female playwright who's written a show about her ancestor Emilia, but can't get any traction on Broadway because it's so male-dominated. The question is whether she, too, will write herself out of history to see her words performed onstage.
How did you come across Emilia Bassano?
Like many other English majors, I loved Shakespeare. I loved his language, and I loved the way he created protofeminist characters.
One semester I had a Shakespeare professor who spent all of ten minutes discussing the question of his authorship. I dismissed it, like most people do.
"Something struck a chord in me – how could the playwright who had created Portia and Katherine and Rosalind and Beatrice not teach his own girls to read?"
Then, a few years ago, I was reading The Atlantic and came across an article by Elizabeth Winkler about this very thing. In it, she pointed out that Shakespeare had two daughters that he did not teach to read, and who signed with a mark. Something struck a chord in me – how could the playwright who had created Portia and Katherine and Rosalind and Beatrice not teach his own girls to read? I just didn't buy it. It made me do a deeper dive into the authorship question, particularly into Emilia Bassano.
The more I learned about Emilia, the more likely it seemed to me that she was responsible for writing some of the plays. There just got to be a tipping point where I thought, 'Oh come on! This can't be a coincidence again.'
For example, take "Othello." In the play, Iago gives a speech: 'What shall I say? Where's satisfaction?/ It is impossible you should see this,/ Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, /As salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross/As ignorance made drunk. But yet I say,/If imputation and strong circumstances/Which lead directly to the Door of Truth,/Will give you satisfaction, you may haven't.' ("Othello," 3.3.404-11)
Lots of weird metaphors there, right? Well, in the little Italian town of Bassano del Grappa, where Emilia's family emigrated from, a fresco was painted in the main square above a salt shop. At the top was a bunch of animals including a goat, a sheep and a monkey… and a woman representing Truth.
Also, in that village square? Two apothecary shops. One was called The Moor. The other was run by a man named Giovanno Otello. Moreover, between the first publication of the play in the first quarto and its inclusion in the First Folio, about 160 new lines were added. This, in itself, is not unusual. However, these new lines were added after Shakespeare was dead. So we know he didn't write them. Who did?
Well, of those new lines, the vast majority were penned for the character of Desdemona's servant, Emilia, including a long speech considered the first feminist soliloquy in literature. Whether or not you believe Emilia wrote any of the plays, in 1611, she was the first published female poet in England — a remarkable achievement — when she was in her forties.
"What if she was writing all along, and using someone else's name? What if that name was William Shakespeare?"
But writers do not appear out of nowhere. What if she was writing all along, and using someone else's name? What if that name was William Shakespeare?
Throughout history, women have been silenced, whether that was by not being allowed to write or finding it necessary to use a male pseudonym. Why did you write about this topic now? Why does it continue to be important?
I have long been outspoken about gender discrimination at the heart of publishing. Imagine my surprise at diving into the history of someone like Emilia Bassano, who is barely recognized for being the first published female poet in England, much less as a potential author of the works attributed to Shakespeare. To recognize that literally for hundreds of years women have not gotten the credit they deserve seems like a pretty important banner to wave.
In today's world, although much has changed…much hasn't. The gatekeepers at the head of publishing companies and the theater owners are all older white men.
Do you believe that women are still being silenced today?
I believe that women are silenced in subtle ways. Obviously, there's what going on in Afghanistan which is literal silencing, but women all over the world are judged differently from men.
For example, take Broadway. The gatekeepers of the industry are a handful of older white gentlemen who tend to put into their theaters things that represent their own experience. Often, this manifests in a male-centric, Caucasian story. The tourist going to Broadway assumes, when they see what's playing, that these are the only stories worth telling – which is a vicious cycle and quite stifling to stories from marginalized creatives.
The same holds true in publishing. Sure, there are female writers and female editors. But ask about females of color, and that number drops dramatically. Zoom out and ask if a single publishing conglomerate is headed at the top by a woman and the answer is no. In this sense, there's still a glass ceiling to be cracked. I think you only have to look as far as the election this year to see how women are treated differently from men.
Over the years, there's been quite a lot of discussion about whether Shakespeare truly wrote everything attributed to him. Why do you think he didn't?
Here's what we actually know, from primary sources, about Shakespeare: He was a businessman, a producer and an actor. He evaded taxes twice. He had multiple restraining orders taken out against him by business colleagues. During a famine he jacked up the price of grain after hoarding it, and made his neighbors pay that price.
"When he died, not a single other playwright mourned his loss publicly, although his name was the best known in the theatrical world at the time."
He never left the country, yet managed to write about Italy, Denmark and Egypt with details not available in guidebooks at the time (like where the closets were in the Queen of Denmark's bedchamber). He did not play an instrument but there are more references to music in the Shakespearean plays than any other body of work. He didn't go to university and maybe not even grammar school – not a dealbreaker — but when he died, he didn't own a single book, and there wasn't a library where one could do research to educate oneself on subjects back then.
When he died, not a single other playwright mourned his loss publicly, although his name was the best known in the theatrical world at the time. Also, when he passed, he wasn't buried or commemorated in Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey, though many writers you've never heard of made the cut.
"You can always edit a bad page…you can't edit a blank page."
Here's what we don't know about Shakespeare: that he wrote a single word of a play or poem that has his name slapped at the top. The only handwriting we have of his on a play is a note in the margin of a play someone else wrote.
On the contrary, multiple parts of Emilia Bassano's life slot seamlessly into the plays. I gave one example above. Another is in "Hamlet." When Emilia was twelve, she was living with the ambassador to Denmark for Queen Elizabeth, and that summer he took a diplomatic mission to Denmark. He met the King and Queen, and Tycho Brahe (the astronomer whose supernova is in the opening scene of "Hamlet" when they are looking at a star), and Brahe's two relatives, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Emilia either went with him, or heard about these travels when he returned. Shakespeare did not ever go to Denmark or meet any of these people.
As you've gotten older, how has your writing or the themes you address changed? Do you do anything now that you may not have when you were first writing?
I think as I get older, I worry less about my kids and instead about more global topics: abortion rights, gay rights, the nature of good and evil, things like that. My books reflect those thoughts now.
Throughout your writing career, what are some of the most important things you've learned?
You can always edit a bad page…you can't edit a blank page. And you should write the book you need to write, not what you think may sell.
What would readers be surprised to know about you?
I swim a mile every day, and I am an excellent baker.
While you're still doing a book tour and publicity for this book, can you give any hints to what's next?
I will spend 2025 working in the UK on two musicals — the adaptations I've done of "The Book Thief" and "Austenland."
My 2026 book is going to be about 9/11; it's the 25th anniversary of that tragedy.
Are there any topics you'd still like to cover that you haven't? Any writers you'd like to work with in the future?
I don't anticipate collaborating unless a story called for it; and as for topics — we'll see.
