Inspired by Shakespeare

Judith Shakespeare’s untold story comes to life in The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter. Tiffany imagines Judith’s journey through rebellion and scandal in a world of political upheaval and Puritan rule. Explore the history, fiction, and legacy of Shakespeare’s daughter.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is having a moment—actually two, with A Room in the Castle and The Comedy of Hamlet! (a prequel) exploring Shakespeare’s characters before, during, and after the events of his greatest tragedy.

How does King Lear resonate in a world reshaped by climate change? Julia Armfield’s Private Rites, set in a flooded London, explores inheritance, power, and queerness amid disaster. Longlisted for the 2024 Climate Fiction Prize, she shares how Shakespeare influences her work.

What if Gertrude had more power than we thought? What if Ophelia’s fate wasn’t sealed? Playwright Lauren Gunderson reclaims the voices of Hamlet’s women in A Room in the Castle, a sharp, feminist reimagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy.

Are Bob Dylan and William Shakespeare truly solitary geniuses given what collaborative art forms music and theater are? A look at how A Complete Unknown and Shakespeare in Love depict young genius on the rise.

In an excerpt from Grace Tiffany’s imaginative novel, The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter, we meet Judith Shakespeare at age 61, a midwife-apothecary in war-torn 17th-century England on the run to avoid arrest for witchcraft.

To commemorate Black History Month, we’re sharing interviews with acclaimed Black theater artists—actors, directors, playwrights—and scholars about performing and adapting Shakespeare, then and now.

In her If Shakespeare Were an Auntie trilogy, Nisha Sharma reimagines The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, and Twelfth Night as contemporary romances in the South Asian diaspora.

Austin Tichenor discovers the TV series Shakespeare & Hathaway, which features former police detective Frank Hathaway teaming up with amateur sleuth Luella Shakespeare to solve crimes in—where else?—Stratford-upon-Avon.

Enjoy our top five Shakespeare & Beyond blog posts from 2024. Happy reading!

Scenes of winter in the Folger collection, from snowy outdoor scenes to fashionable illustrations to mentions of winter in Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

The end of the year brings feasts, celebrations, and family. Our reading list of Folger Book Club picks offers a wide range of ways to reflect on the ties that bind us.