Ros Barber’s The Marlowe Papers has recently been published and has received positive reviews from the likes of Hilary Mantel and The Telegraph. On Saturday 7th July, Ros Barber will be bringing The Marlowe Papers to Ledbury, and on the following day will conduct her famous workshop, Be the Writer You Dream of Being.
The Marlowe Papers follows what would have happened to Christopher Marlowe had he not died his violent death, and works with the theory that Marlowe was, in fact, Shakespeare himself. And it’s all written in iambic pentameter.
All this seemed like a lot of work, so I knew that Ros Barber must have been, and still would be, passionate about Marlowe, so I asked her a few questions aboutThe Marlowe Papers, her methods of writing and what to expect from her at Ledbury.
The Marlowe Papers has been characterised as poetry, a novel or a mixture of both. How would you define it?
Like Vikram Seth’s Golden Gate or Bernardine Evaristo’s The Emperor’s Babe, it’s a novel in verse. The novel is made up of a hundred and thirty one poems, written as if they are the private letters or journal entries of Christopher Marlowe. But to people who baulk at the idea of a novel in verse, I tell them to forget it’s poetry and just think of it as a novel with shorter-than-average lines.
What research did you undertake when writing The Marlowe Papers?
I read and/or listened to every single play and poem in both the Marlowe and Shakespeare canons, including the apocrypha. I also read all the biographies of Marlowe that are available (including Charles Nicholl’s The Reckoning), and all the recent ones of Shakespeare. I read writing by Marlowe’s contemporaries (Thomas Nashe, Thomas Watson, Gabriel Harvey and many others). I read several contemporary verse novels and other Marlowe and Shakespeare fictions and factions: A Dead Man In Deptford, Tamburlaine Must Die, Nothing Like the Sun, Will In The World, History Play, 1599. I also read biographies of other key figures I would be writing about such as Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Walsingham, the Earl of Essex, etc. and an awful lot of academic articles pertaining to relevant subjects such as practices of execution and torture, legal procedures, civil and ecumenical law, fencing.
I read up on religion at that time, since I quickly understood that was at the heart of Marlowe’s downfall – not just Catholics and Protestants, but the Jesuits, the Puritans, the anti-Trinitarians, the Huguenots etc. Then there was the geographical research regarding Cambridge, Canterbury, Deptford, France, the Low Countries, Italy and London in the late sixteenth century. I’m sure the list could go on, but that gives you some idea of the scope of it.
Your other poetry has a clearly modern ‘voice’. Was writing in Marlowe’s voice and era a challenge?
Finding an authentic-sounding voice for Marlowe was probably the hardest part of starting out but it came easily once all the research was in place. Listening to the Shakespeare canon and reading the works of Marlowe aloud was particularly helpful, allowing me to pick up Elizabethan cadences and rhythms. But it was also important to me that I didn’t write in mock-Tudor language; it had to be contemporary English that would be easy on my readers, not the kind of alien, jolting experience that modern audiences have when first exposed to Shakespeare. I wanted to create a seamless, almost invisible bridge between the reader and an Elizabethan experience, allowing them to enter that world through familiar language. My aim was to balance a modern voice with authentically Elizabethan cadences and phrasing. The iambic pentameter helped with this a great deal; it would have been much harder to achieve in prose.
Not the Usual Grasses Singing was written entirely in rhyming couplets. Do you enjoy setting yourself challenges with form?
For me, it is one of the great pleasures of writing poetry. On the other hand, when you are writing something over the long haul – like Not the Usual Grasses or The Marlowe Papers – the form very quickly ceases to be a challenge; it comes easily and naturally and becomes a containment device, a structural pleasure, something to play with and enjoy as you’re going along. Iambic pentameter feels as natural as breathing; it is difficult for me, these days, not to write in iambic pentameter. In other words, writing a whole novel in blank verse wasn’t the challenge. The challenge was finding an authentic voice for Marlowe, and telling a complex tale as richly yet compactly as possible, in a way that was gripping, emotionally moving, and true to the historical record.
Did you set yourself certain tasks or have certain self-imposed constraints within The Marlowe Papers?
The chief self-imposed constraint was historical accuracy. Rodney Bolt’s History Play was a fictional biography of Marlowe based on the same theory but, reading it, I was irritated that he had felt the need to insert so many pretend facts among the real ones; I felt strongly that a plausible narrative could be woven using only the historical evidence we actually have. Obviously this historical evidence is then interpreted; that’s what novelists (and historians and biographers) do. But it was important to me that I had a sound historical basis for everything I wrote. Other than that, it was the usual imperatives incumbent upon any writer: don’t be boring – grip, move, involve – make sure all your characters have pulses, never use ten words when two will do.
What can one expect from The Marlowe Papers event at Ledbury?
I’ll be demonstrating the advantages of being married to a voice/drama/spoken word coach! Kidding aside, a lot of poets read their work very badly. I love poetry, yet more than half of the poetry readings I attend, I can’t wait for them to be over because the readings are so desperately dull. Something read well, on the other hand, will transport you. I think it’s important to properly engage and entertain the audience. I’ll be bringing a bit of an ‘audio book’ experience to Ledbury, reading extracts from The Marlowe Papers and bringing the words alive. If you want a flavour of the experience, go to rosbarber.com/themarlowepapers and watch the short video there.
You are also bringing ‘Be the Writer You Dream of Being’ to Ledbury this year. Despite being a very accomplished writer, do you still suffer with a lack of confidence?
Not at all! And largely thanks to the techniques I’ll be introducing in the ‘Be the Writer You Dream of Being’ workshop. I taught creative writing at Sussex for twelve years and it bothered me that I would bump into some of my most talented students, years after the course, and find that they were no longer writing. Confidence issues, limiting beliefs and fear (of failure, or success) were always at the heart of their self-sabotage. While I was writing The Marlowe Papers I had to face some major fears of my own: was I up to the task? Would it be rubbish? What if no one wanted to read it? What if no one published it? What if it was published but was torn apart in reviews? What if it didn’t even get reviews? And many more besides. These are the kinds of fears that can cripple any writer and prevent them achieving the successes they hope for. During the first year of writing The Marlowe Papers I was fortunate enough to find really effective techniques that not only neutralises fears, doubts and self-limiting beliefs, but allow you to tap into a powerful stream of inspiration at will. The success of The Marlowe Papers is the direct result of those techniques, which I now share with, and teach to, other writers.
What will people take from ‘Be the Writer you Dream of Being’?
People generally say they feel lighter and more relaxed about writing, more confident of their ability to write well and with ease, and to move forward with their writing. We’ll dismantle blocks and demonstrate how to tap directly into a stream of inspiration. People who attend this workshop will come out with first-hand experience of a great technique they can use to overcome any obstacle to writing (even, believe it or not, unsupportive family members!). It’s unlike any other workshop for writers, in that we won’t be doing creative exercises. But we will be unravelling the things that keep you from the kind of writing success you dream about. So bring a pen, paper, and an open mind.
Ros Barber is clearly passionate about her work, whether Marlowe, poetry or workshops. Her work is accessible, entertaining and her appearances at Ledbury will evidently be exciting and enlightening.
The Marlowe Papers event takes place on Saturday 7th July at 2.30pm – 3.30pm
Be the Writer You Dream of Being takes places on Sunday 8th July at 10.30am-12.30pm
If you want to know more about Ros Barber, go to: http://rosbarber.com/
You can also book tickets for her Ledbury events by visiting:
or calling 0845 458 1743.
A full programme of events is also available online:
Many thanks to Ros Barber for participating in the interview.
By Jenna Clake
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