Shakespeare, thriller & stage
From cosy to classic, page to stage …
Hi! Welcome to Susan Sachon’s portfolio. And if you’re wondering what the study of classics (including Shakespeare) has to do with cosy mysteries and romances, the answer is – everything!
Susan Sachon’s portfolio
I’ve loved books and plays for as long as I can remember. As a child I relished the sounds, rhythms and textures of language, and the way it can create moods – which led me into literary studies, where I eventually specialised in Shakespeare. I’d been an amateur theatre director for years, so studying his plays through a director’s eyes was an added joy.
I completed my academic education later in life, alongside running a business and a family, and bringing Shakespeare to the stage. But I always read for escapist pleasure, too – it’s my absolute solace, and vital to my happiness. I’ve scribbled stories since I could write, but never had the confidence to pursue publication until I was awarded my doctorate in 2014. Then I set about converting my thesis into an academic book – and it was accepted by Palgrave Macmillan! One of the most exciting days of my life.
Finally, I realised that I could call myself a writer. And that I never had and never wanted to stop creating stories.
Here, you can read about my Shakespeare workshops and plays, my academic deep dives and the book these interests inspired, and take a peek at my thriller, So Now Go Tell.
I’m a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA) and the Society of Authors (SOA).
The thriller
So Now Go Tell
After reaching a crisis point at 40, Jenny Watson is offered her dream job running a Shakespeare festival at a Tudor pub. She can hardly believe her luck at this brilliant new start, and chance to escape her unhappy past.
What readers said
‘Susan’s writing is nothing short of spectacular’
Heidi and her Books
‘The novel’s many plot twists kept me on my toes. Three words to describe it: captivating. Thrilling. Gripping.’
BookafterBook
‘A real treat of a book’
@ramblingmads.uk
‘Beautiful, effortless read’
Goodreads reviewer
‘Brilliant book’
StaceyWh_17
‘If I’d been writing this review on paper, the ink would be smudged with shed tears’
Veronika Jordan, Amazon review
‘A richly descriptive, beautifully written story’
Robin Price, Amazon review
‘Couldn’t put it down’
Amazon Review
Academic work
Shakespeare, Objects and Phenomenology: Daggers of the Mind
My primary interest in Shakespeare has always been the effect Shakespeare’s language has on the reader’s or audience member’s mind. We know so much more, these days, about the way our brains react to words – especially the kind of rich description we find in Shakespeare’s writing. My academic book, published in 2020, explores the reasons why his words have such a strong impact on our minds and emotions.
Academic reviews
‘[Sachon’s] book masterfully combines studies of language and rhetoric with the materiality of the stage . . . giving us a new perspective on Shakespeare’s plays’.
Mark Kaethler, ‘Scientism, theory and 4E’ in Literary Compass, March 2020
‘Through its detailed textual analysis, and accessible style, this book helps readers understand the complex processes behind our experiences of objects in texts. It is of interest not only to scholars of Shakespeare and cognitive literary studies but also to anyone working at the intersection of philosophy and literature’.
Jung Feng, Sichuan International Studies University
‘Reading @DrSusanSachon’s Shakespeare, Objects and Phenomenology: Daggers of the Mind for a review article and holy hell my tiny mind has been blown’ 8/10/2021.
Tweet from Dr Chloe Fairbanks, Oxford University
‘Sachon’s Shakespeare, Objects and Phenomenology offers exciting directions for thinking through Shakespeare’s texts and the objects readers can see and imagine in the words of the plays.’ ‘What is innovative about Sachon’s work is this relationship – even union – between traditional tools of literary study and insights culled from cognitive science’.
Will Rogers, Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol 73, Issue 1-2, Spring-Summer 2022, pp 158-60
‘I read and assessed some of Susan Sachon’s doctoral research, which I felt was engaged, subtle and illuminating. She has now considerably revised this work, bringing cognitive, practice-based and historical approaches into a unique and suggestive synthesis. Her phenomenological approach to Shakespeare is a very promising one and I would encourage any enterprising publisher to take a good look at her proposal for what could well prove to be an influential book.’
Professor Ewan Fernie, Fellow and Chair of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Birmingham, and Director of ‘Everything to Everybody’ project: a collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council
‘I think that the integration of cognitive blending research works particularly well . . . the textual analysis, discussion of productions, and theoretical content . . . in particular make a substantial contribution to the growing body of work on cognitive and phenomenological approaches to Shakespeare and theatre’
Evelyn Tribble, University of Connecticut, USA
Shakespeare on page and stage
Over forty years of directing, and a set of ‘No Shakesfear’ acting workshops built to make his language clear, motivated and easily understood – for drama groups tackling a Shakespeare play for the first time, and for those who want to go deeper.
Newsletter
A little news with your next cup
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