Jodi Picoult saying Shakespeare was a woman is the worst kind of fan fiction

Jodi Picoult, the American novelist, has a daft theory as to who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays (“Bestselling novelist Jodi Picoult on why she thinks Shakespeare was a woman”, Monday 14 October).

For a change, it’s not Francis Bacon or the Earl of Oxford, or some other Oxbridge-educated contemporary of the Bard, who might have had a more sophisticated education or richer life experiences than Shakespeare.

No, it is a protofeminist minor poet called Emilia Bassano.

She is notable only for being the first female English poet to be published. Sadly, many of the wilder speculations about the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays do still come from America; Mark Twain certainly wasn’t the first and won’t be the last.

Fortunately, the distinguished American Shakespeare authority James Shapiro debunked all this stuff several years ago in his detailed and scholarly book Disputed Will. Perhaps Ms Picoult’s research did not include this inconvenient work, which should have been the last word on the subject.

Not that Americans are alone to blame. An early 20th-century English schoolmaster was an assiduous supporter of the Earl of Oxford‘s authorship. That schoolmaster’s name was J Thomas Looney!

What the deniers cannot grasp is that genius can sometimes emerge in unpromising circumstances, and anyway, there are still big gaps in our knowledge of the young Stratford-upon-Avon playwright’s education, life experiences and other possible influences.

Scouring the plays for texts which might tell us more about Shakespeare the man is futile. The plays portray humanity in all its richness and diversity, but Shakespeare’s own personality and beliefs cannot be discerned from the astonishing variety of the characters and points of view that he portrays.

Gavin Turner

Norfolk

How much lower can the world of sport sink?

We have seen kneecapping in ice skating and chess pieces being poisoned. Now there are accusations – unproven, so far – of cheating in the World Conker Championships (“Conker World Championships embroiled in cheating scandal after steel dummy found in winner’s pocket”, Tuesday 15 October).

The winner has been accused of using a metal conker to win against his opponent, which he denies, saying he only had it for humour.

Sometimes, it’s obvious when athletes cheat. A runner will get caught riding in a car during his marathon or blood samples will expose the use of banned substances by a professional road racing cyclist.

But with conkers, it isn’t so obvious. If the world of conkers isn’t clean, I think it’s time to cancel all sports competitions and head home, to sit on the couch for our remaining days.

Dennis Fitzgerald

Victoria, Australia

Since Brexit, Simon Calder has repeatedly highlighted airlines’ struggles to correctly apply the rules on passport dates (“EasyJet wrongly kicks passenger off flight due to ‘invalid’ passport – then refuses compensation”, Tuesday 15 October).

They seem to be relying on ground staff to get it right.

So why do the airlines seem to rely on hard-pressed individuals instead of basic information systems? A spreadsheet containing the passport details of every passenger could reveal in an instant if any had expired.

Mark Ogilvie

Horncastle

Why, in this enlightened age, do reviews for cosmetics and toiletries not routinely contain details on whether the products are tested on animals (“Glycerin is the skincare buzzword you need to know", Friday 11 October)?

Given that even vegan-certified credentials do not rule out the possibility of animal testing, this information is of paramount importance to a lot of consumers. Making more of it would increase pressure on manufacturers to behave more ethically.

Sally du Gay

London

I have received a letter telling me that I will not receive the winter fuel payment (“Warning some pensioners may have to pay back winter fuel payments – here’s what you can do about it”, Monday 14 October).

I have never received the payment before, and you would have to be in a deep coma not to know that the government is about to scrap it.

Is this the real cause of the fabled “£22bn black hole” – the public sector wasting taxpayers’ money by sending unnecessary letters?

David Kilpatrick

Address supplied