Features / Interviews
From music journalist to Shakespeare sonnets
As the founder and editor of Bristol-based Shakespeare Magazine and full time Shakespeare journalist Pat Reid has gone on a journey back to his first love – literature.
The former music magazine journalist had a “Shakespeare epiphany” about three years ago.
“I did an English degree back in the 80s,” he says, “and then I didn’t go near English literature in the high-brow sense for decades”.
is needed now More than ever
Interest has never been higher in Shakespeare 400 years after his death
But Pat says he “always felt a pull to Shakespeare” and, after reading Richard III, he “started looking round for a magazine for my new passion”.
Straight away he spotted a gap in the market:
It started off as a bedroom micro budget venture and it very quickly found readers from across the world, but the readership took Pat by surprise.
“When I had the idea I thought it would be a Shakespeare magazine for middle-aged men, but the readership is overwhelmingly female,” says Pat.
He’d not factored in Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston mania: “I definitely need to buy those guys a pint as they have enhanced the magazine considerably,” says Pat.
The fan factor of Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch has played a part in Shakespeare’s popularity (photo credit Jstone/Jaguar PS/Shutterstock)
But he’s keen to point out that the magazine is not “just about fan worship”.
“Hiddleston and Cumberbatch are getting people into Shakespeare but it’s much more than that”.
The magazine covers everything from Shakespeare in Botswana to the Bard’s role in tackling human rights abuses. “It’s something that the kids at school can read, teachers and librarians read it,” says Pat.
“It’s not meant to patronise readers; it’s a pretty easy read but at the same time it’s something that the world’s greatest Shakespeare scholars are reading.
“Shakespeare is a world unto itself and the magazine can change from one moment to the next.
“It’s a film magazine, a literature magazine, a history magazine or a theatre magazine,” he adds.
Founder of Shakespeare Magazine Pat Reid
2016 is the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death and the focus on Shakespeare has been “unprecedented and unbelievable” says Pat.
Even when the celebrations come to an end Pat is sure there will continue to be a market for a dedicated magazine about Shakespeare.
He’s also confident he’ll never run out of inspiration.
“There is enough material to keep me going for the next 400 years,” he says, “it’s limitless”.
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