ALIENA ~ An Appropriation of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It,

San Antonio writer Penelope Boyer will read excerpts from her current work-in-progress, Aliena, an appropriation of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, at the San Antonio Mennonite Church, (1443 South St. Mary’s Street, San Antonio, TX 78210) on Wednesday, November 8, 2023 at 7:30pm CST.

The date of this tertulia marks the 400th anniversary of the release of the First Folio edition of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. A tertulia is a social gathering with literary or artistic overtones.

Boyer’s appropriation, tells the story of two seventeen-year-old girls who flee a drug cartel-driven childhood in remote Chihuahua, Mexico seeking asylum in the United States. Boyer chose the San Antonio Mennonite Church–where many local immigration assistance programs have originated and are underway–as the site for this free event. Her readings will be interspersed with presentations by representatives of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition which runs the Bus Station Ministry and the Mennonite Church/Casa de Maria y Marta who provide emergency and longer-term assistance to asylum seekers reaching San Antonio across the US/Mexico border.

A presentation by the Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva is also on the agenda. The Colectiva is a multi-institutional research initiative investigating the role of la Frontera and the borderlands in contemporary manifestations of Shakespeare’s works.

Boyer’s work, supported by a second Literary Arts Individual Artist Grant from the City of San Antonio, again presents a fiercely feminist and queer point-of-view in the reading, re-writing and appropriation of classic literature. Previously she has appropriated heavily from Homer. For more information, see:  penelope@penelopeboyer.com.

This event is free and open to the public, but the donation—if possible—of new socks for any age/gender (packs of 2-3) will be collected for distribution to people’s arriving in San Antonio from the South Texas immigration detention centers.