Shakespeare's Dog

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Shakespeare's Dog
Author Leon Rooke
Country Don Mills, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Stoddart Publishing
Publication date
1983
Media typePrint (hardcover, paperback)
Pages158
ISBN 978-0-7737-2011-4
OCLC 10439426
Preceded byThe Birth Control King of the Upper Volta 
Followed byA Bolt of White Cloth 

Shakespeare's Dog is a 1983 novel by Canadian writer Leon Rooke. [1] The novel tells the story of William Shakespeare's early career, including his aspirations to break through to popular success as a writer and his courtship and eventual marriage to Anne Hathaway, from the perspective of Hooker, Shakespeare's pet dog. [2]

The novel won the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the 1983 Governor General's Awards, [3] and was a shortlisted finalist for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. [4]

A 20th-anniversary edition of the novel was reissued in 2003 by Dundurn Press. [5]

It was later adapted for the stage by playwright Rick Chafe, premiering at the National Arts Centre in conjunction with the Manitoba Theatre Centre in 2008. [6]

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References

  1. "Shakespeare's Dog". Kirkus Reviews , May 1, 1983.
  2. "Trotting Around Stratford". The New York Times , May 29, 1983.
  3. "CanLit fiction's leading award goes to the Dog". The Globe and Mail , June 21, 1984.
  4. "Six finalists for Leacock Medal". The Globe and Mail , April 13, 1984.
  5. "Writers revisiting classic works". Windsor Star , November 14, 2003.
  6. "Shakespeare's Dog a furball of fun". Ottawa Citizen , March 22, 2008.