Archive for 2014/04/23

10 Things You Didn’t Know about Shakespeare

Posted in Shakespeareana on 2014/04/23 by mattermind

I posted a list before, but since the world never seems to tire of top tens and hundred bests, I figured it might be helpful to pass THIS one along.

It contains lots of ideas that I’ve never heard mentioned before. Have you?

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The Sonnet Project Begins

Posted in The Sonnets on 2014/04/23 by mattermind

I mentioned in previous posts my boundless admiration for The Sonnet Project. These amazing folks launched an incredible undertaking to celebrate Shakespeare by setting his sonnets in a modern, Manhattan context. It will be an honor and a privilege to help spread word about it far and wide.

They timed it all to coincide with Shakespeare’s birthday – so I feel it’s only appropriate to formally begin linking to their work today with Sonnet #1.

While I haven’t fully wrapped the Hollow Crown saga, there are more sonnets available than I could possibly cover in a month. So why not seize the day and begin now?

Please visit The Shakespeare Project and support them in any way you can. Even a friendly word of encouragement is helpful…as any blogger might tell you.

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Happy Birthday, Will!

Posted in Celebrations on 2014/04/23 by mattermind

With all the fuss they make over obscure commemorations, Google might have dialed up the glasses and done a doodle (you’d think) today to honor the greatest playwright who ever set qwill to parchment. Guess they’re too busy uploading maps and cat videos to the cloud to be bothered.

But here at the blog, we’re more than aware that today is not just any ol’ hump day, but an occasion to put on party hats and make a little noise for a guy who’s turning 450 this year.

He’s aging quite gracefully, our William. Doesn’t look a day over 305 if you ask me. Maybe the time has come for some pushback against the post-modern tendency to drag the heroes of literature down with text-fixated obscurantism.

But that’s for another day.

This one belongs to you, Mr. Shakespeare. A toast to you, who lives on through all of us who love you, and the generations to follow who will discover and love you too.

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