Sara Hawks Sterling
Sara Hawks Sterling was an American schoolteacher and novelist.
![](../I/m/Portrait_of_Sara_Hawks_Sterling.jpg)
Sterling specialized in fiction about historical and legendary figures, such as King Arthur, Robin Hood, and Anne Hathaway. Her novel Shakespeare's Sweetheart, published in 1905, is an early attempt to view William Shakespeare's life and romantic exploits from a female perspective.[1] Shakespeare's Sweetheart and A Lady of King Arthur's Court were both illustrated by Clara Elsene Peck.
In addition to her writing, Sterling taught English at the Philadelphia High School for Girls from 1906–1912, and the West Philadelphia High School for Girls starting in 1912. She earned a bachelor of arts in teaching from the University of Pennsylvania in 1918, and was a member of the Women Teachers' Organization.[2]
Sterling was born in Philadelphia to John and Mary Sterling. She appears to have remained in Philadelphia, and never married.[1] According to her listing in the Woman's Who's who in America of 1914-1915, she was against women's suffrage.[2] She was a member of the Browning Society of Philadelphia, the Shakespeare Company, and the Dickens Fellowship.[2]
Works
- Hamlet's brides: a Shakespearean burlesque in one act (1900)
- Shakespeare's sweetheart (1905)[1]
- A lady of King Arthur's court: being a romance of the Holy Grail (1907)[3]
- Robin Hood and his merry men (1921)[4]
References
- Scheil, Katherine (2018). Imagining Shakespeare's wife: the afterlife of Anne Hathaway. Cambridge University Press. pp. 122–124. ISBN 9781108416696.
- Woman's Who's who of America: a biographical dictionary of contemporary women of the United States and Canada. American Commonwealth Company. 1914. p. 779. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- Lupack, Alan (2007). The Oxford guide to Arthurian literature and legend. Oxford University Press. p. 257. ISBN 9780199215096.
- Catalog of copyright entries: part 1: books, group 1. Government Printing Office. 1922. p. 3350. Retrieved 22 April 2020.