The core of the chapters included in this book originated in the papers discussed at the research seminar ‘Queer Shakespeare’, held at the annual meeting of the Shakespeare Association of America in Vancouver in 2015. I am grateful to Vin Nardizzi for responding to the proposal for the seminar with erudition, enthusiasm and skill, and and for his support while the book was in preparation. Will Stockton, Jeffrey Masten and Mario DiGangi responded to the ideas shared in the seminar with generosity, encouragement and critical sharpness. Many of their points shared in the seminar were helpful in the shaping of this book afterwards. Anthony Guy Patricia made many useful comments on a draft of the book. I am grateful to Natasha Hurley who ventured backwards in queer times with intellectual verve typical of her quick mind, and suggested how one might think differently and thought-provokingly about queerness in Shakespeare. I thank John Garrison and Stephen Guy-Bray for sharing their critical wisdom and practical advice with me. I am indebted to Mitch Redden for his help as an exemplary research assistant. It was a great pleasure for me to work with the superb editorial team at Bloomsbury. Margaret Bartley’s interest in this project, her expert guidance on numerous matters and her quick e-mail replies made my work on this book a whole lot easier than I anticipated. I acknowledge the financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada at the initial stage of this project. Most importantly, I thank all the contributors for writing intellectually inspiring, fresh and original essays.