PRE•AMBLES

Regina Buccola, Ph. D., is a Professor of English and Interim Dean of the College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences (CHESS) at Roosevelt University in Chicago. She specializes in Shakespeare, Non-Shakespeare early modern drama, and Women’s and Gender Studies. She has published several books on early modern British drama and culture, most recently Haunting History Onstage: Shakespeare in the USA and Canada for Cambridge Elements, as editor of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Critical Guide and co-editor of Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Suiting the Action to the Word. Recent journal publications include Shakespeare Bulletin, Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England, and Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation. She serves as scholar in residence at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Her poetry has appeared in Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal and in Elia Magazine. In July 2022, a piece of her creative non-fiction appeared in Glacial Hills Review.

Stephen Bennett, Ph.D., is a scholar, professor, and special education teacher at CPS’s Eli Whitney Elementary who has taught at Roosevelt University, New York University, and the University of Utah. His dissertation, Reading Elizabeth: Menopause and the Cult of the Virgin Queen, explores how and why representations of Elizabeth I changed at her menopause and at her death. During a nearly 20-year career teaching literature and writing at the college level, he became increasingly fascinated with how a K-12 education prepares students for college, which lead him to his current position where he also mentors new teachers. Stephen earned his Ph. D. in English and American Literature at New York University, where he was a Dean’s Dissertation Fellow.

Kay Daly is a scholar, writer, novelist, book and theater reviewer, teacher, and public humanities advocate. She received her Ph.D. in English Literature from Northwestern University, where she taught courses on Shakespeare, drama, and literature. She also teaches adult enrichment courses focusing on arts and humanities at the Newberry Library in Chicago. She has written for a variety of publications and organizations including The Chicago Review of Books, TimeOut Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, WNET New York Public Media, The Library of Virginia’s blog UnCommonwealth, Dramatics Magazine, and Centerstage Chicago. Her debut novel Wilton House, based on the life of 17th-century writer Lady Mary Wroth, will be published by Regal House Publishing in 2027. Born outside of Los Angeles, Kay has called Chicago home for more than thirty years.