In Shakespearean Job Postings: Interviews with Characters Profoundly Unfit for their Intended Professions Stephen Cramer envisions a slew of Shakespearean characters, one from each of the Bard’s 38 plays, being grilled about why they might–or might not–be a good fit for their proposed organizations. Cue an egregious litany of ineptitude. Much Ado About Nothing’s Beatrice, who is notoriously anti-marriage, applies to be a marriage counselor. Jack Cade, from Henry VI part 2, applies to be a second-grade teacher. This, from the guy who is suspicious of anyone who can read. Falstaff, from Henry IV, attempts to become a bartender, but during his interview he has his fill behind the bar and leaves nothing to drink for anyone else. The book includes a mix of more commonly known personalities (Ophelia, Lady Macbeth, and Iago), some who are the namesakes of their plays (Cleopatra, Henry VI, Richard III), as well as some perhaps lesser-known characters (Holofernes, Jack Cade, Dionyza, and Volumnia), all of whom are worth getting to know, despite their considerable deficiencies in certain segments of the workforce! 

Author: Stephen Cramer
Paperback, 152 pages, 2026
ISBN-13: 9781972482209

​Stephen Cramer’s first book of poems, Shiva’s Drum, was selected for the National Poetry Series and published by University of Illinois Press. Bone Music, his sixth, won the Louise Bogan Award and was published by Trio House Press. He is the editor of Turn It Up! Music in Poetry from Jazz to Hip-Hop. His work has appeared in journals such as The American Poetry Review, African American Review, The Yale Review, and Harvard Review. An Assistant Poetry Editor at Green Mountains Review, he teaches writing and literature at the University of Vermont and lives with his wife and daughter in Burlington.

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