Off the shelf

To commemorate the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth in 2014, Shakespeare’s Globe in London sent a group of actors on a two-year tour to perform Hamlet all around the world. Dominic Dromgoole, the Globe’s artistic director who directed this traveling…

Are you a fan of YA novels? Young adult literature is booming right now, from contemporary sob-fests like The Fault in Our Stars to action adventure series like The Maze Runner. And with Shakespeare a staple of the high school classroom, it makes…

Here’s a round-up of Shakespeare-related books, fiction and nonfiction, that are on our must-read list. Ira’s Shakespeare Dream Glenda Armand (author), Floyd Cooper (illustrator) This story of famed African-American actor Ira Aldridge, who believed he could be a great Shakespearean…

William Shakespeare is a global phenomenon. In the four centuries since his death, the British playwright’s works have appeared at times and places where we might least expect them. Why is this so? Shakespeare was no world traveler. So then why…

Luke Skywalker strikes an iconic Hamlet pose in this illustration from the William Shakespeare’s Star Wars series. Credit Nicolas Delort. Courtesy Quirk Books. Shakespeare and Star Wars would appear to have very little in common. Or at least they did,…

Looking for a new addition to your bookshelf? Here’s a survey of some recently published books about Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth I, and the early modern age. Pop Sonnets: Shakespeare Spins on Your Favorite Songs by Erik Didriksen “Alas! I once…

On his very popular Tumblr, Pop Sonnets, Erik Didriksen takes hit songs and rewrites them as Shakespearean sonnets. For example, Beyoncé’s “If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it” becomes “If truly you did wish…