In Alicante, a notable event unfolds this week as a distinguished philologist and scholar of Cervantes and Shakespeare, Jose Enrique Gil-Delgado Crespo, presents a public conference that invites curious minds to explore the enduring dialogue between two literary giants. The session is scheduled for Wednesday at 20:00 and marks a continuation of a series launched last year at the Despalic sociocultural association, located on Radiofonista Raúl Álvarez Antón street. The gathering aims to foster a thoughtful exchange about how Cervantes and Shakespeare illuminate each other across centuries, inviting attendees to consider the ways their works intersect, diverge, and resonate with modern readers and theatergoers in both Spain and the broader Spanish-speaking world. The setting promises an intimate, exam-like space where ideas can be tested, questions posed, and fresh connections drawn between classic texts and contemporary interpretations. The venue has become a hub for literary discussion, offering a forum where scholarly inquiry meets accessible, community-centered engagement.
The conference carries the evocative title The Cardenio Story: Has Shakespeare Read Don Quixote? and is framed within a broader program labeled Readings and Re-readings in the Century of Cervantes and Shakespeare. This initiative commemorates not a single anniversary but a double signal of remembrance: the passing of two universal authors on the same day, April 16, 1616. The discussion invites participants to map the relationship between Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Shakespeare’s theater, focusing on the character Cardenio as a bridge between the two writers’ imaginaries. The narrative of Cardenio has traveled through centuries as a literary thread that some readers associate with a lost play, History of Cardenio, which was known to have been part of Shakespeare’s dramatic landscape. Although the original manuscript suffered a fire at The Globe Theater in 1613 and disappeared from the public record, it continues to intrigue bibliophiles and scholars who catalog it as a potentially pivotal, though elusive, piece of Shakespearean history. In this conference, the examination of that legend serves as a lens to illuminate the cross-pollination of ideas, styles, and storytelling techniques across Renaissance-era drama and early modern fiction. Attendees can expect a carefully curated analysis that situates Cardenio within the evolving exchange between Spanish and English literary traditions, inviting a reconsideration of how early modern plays were conceived, revised, and performed. The discussion also invites reflection on the ways mislaid or fragmentary texts influence literary memory, scholarly speculation, and public imagination. The session thus positions Cardenio not merely as a point of historical curiosity but as a living symbol of intercultural dialogue that continues to inspire writers, performers, and critics today, prompting new questions about authorship, adaptation, and the boundaries between printed page and stage.