Acknowledgments

This project began in a conversation in January of 2020 when Gillian approached Joey with an idea for a Shakespeare Association of America seminar that would encourage participants to leverage the conceptual affordances of contemporary kink cultures in order to better understand early modern sexuality. The conversation that began that day has continued non-stop since then, picking up a wide variety of interlocutors as it went. This volume represents the culmination of the first phase of that conversation and, we hope, the beginning of a much broader discussion in the field at large.

We (Gillian and Joey) would like to thank the many people who have been a part of this conversation over the past few years. First, a profound thanks to each and every one of our contributors. We are so proud of the work that you have all produced, and so grateful to have been able to play a part in bringing it to the world. We would also like to thank all of the participants in our original SAA seminar who brought such brilliant work and camaraderie to the (virtual) table even in the midst of the height of the pandemic. We would particularly like to thank Will Fisher and Simone Chess whose work and leadership have been great inspirations to us, and who have absolutely paved the way for this collection. Jillian Keenan’s Sex with Shakespeare was also a real inspiration, and we hope that if you are reading this you will seek out her book, too. Our sincere thanks to Mario DiGangi for his assiduous care in shepherding the essays in this volume. And for all of their hard editorial labor, we thank Geoff Way, Roy Rukkila, and the entire ACMRS team (including Amy Guenther, who so expertly edited copy).

Joey would also like to personally thank Gillian for sparking this whole project with her characteristic brilliance, generosity, and effervescence. She has seemingly effortlessly created and sustained (for years!) a scene in which one can imagine new ways of encountering the past, and it has been thrilling and humbling to have had a front row seat.

Gillian would like to thank Joey first and foremost for saying yes — to this project, to working together, and to the many “should we” and “could we” questions that arose as this volume took shape. Without Joey’s buoyant and inspiring yes, this book certainly would not exist, nor would its dazzling introduction (written mostly by Joey). Gillian is especially grateful for the friendship that blossomed through this collaboration. It has been a singular privilege and a pleasure to think, read, and write alongside you, dear friend.