The Bard

Shakespeare’s work is alive and well—just as alive and well as it was centuries ago. His work continues to illuminate and inform who we are. This year, we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio, which is among the most influential books ever published. I am working with the Carnegie Stout Library to launch a monthly series in which participants will examine Shakespeare’s work in somewhat chronological order. The series will highlight common themes across plays and narrative poems and will chart the writer’s growth as a dramatist. As a starting point, each month’s discussion will place the work in the contexts of Shakespeare’s canon and the play’s relevance to our current human condition.