The Latest Breaking News from Shakespeare

Andrew Jarvis obituary

Other lives: Actor and drama teacher with a particular focus on Shakespeare

The Guardian - UK · Jan 28

Academy Awards 2026: How ‘Hamnet’ will help me lead Shakespeare classes about ‘Hamlet’s’ Ophelia

When I teach Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, many students love the character Ophelia, and so do I. But the play seems to silence her just when readers need to know more about how she sees the world and her place in it — especially the young women in my classes.

The Conversation · Jan 22

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners has administered an almighty smackdown to critical favourites One Battle and Hamnet

Coogler’s vampire thriller swept the Oscar nominations over Chloé Zhao’s tearjerker and Paul Thomas Anderson’s counterculture thriller. This genre-defying drama about the black experience could now rule awards season

The Guardian - UK · Jan 22

People Almost Had A Stroke Trying To Read These 108 Hilariously Confusing Pics

We invented both Shakespeare and the word “yeet.” We put a man on the moon but still can’t figure out how to make women’s pockets bigger than two centimeters. So it’s only fitting that the internet we ended up with was never going to be calm or rational. The Facebook…

Bored Panda · Jan 19

Why we love literary anniversaries

Last year marked 250 years since the birth of the English novelist Jane Austen. The Conversation celebrated this important literary milestone with a series of articles and a dedicated podcast, Jane Austen’s Paper Trail. This special year saw a variety of high-profile celebratory events across the country, from regency balls…

The Conversation · Jan 19

Poem of the week: Now, Mother, What’s the Matter? by Richard W Halperin

An exploration of what constitutes the literary arts – plus all the ‘troubled hearts’ and demons that accompany it – through the lens of Shakespeare’s Hamlet

The Guardian - UK · Jan 19

It takes many ghosts to make a story: how Maggie O'Farrell’s Hamnet takes from – and mistakes – Shakespeare

In her eighth novel Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell imagines the short life and tragic death of Shakespeare’s only son, aged 11, in 1596. Although it is not known how Hamnet died, O’Farrell attributes his death to the plague. She creates a visceral and affecting portrait of his swift decline and the…

The Conversation · Jan 12

Paul Mescal on grief in Hamnet

Paul Mescal says Hamnet’s ending shows the impact of grief and the visually striking image of William Shakespeare covered in cracking clay at the end helps to portray this.

BANG Premier · Jan 11

‘That’s not how I pictured it’ – why book-to-film adaptations so often disappoint

As Hamnet arrives on the big screen, many fans of the book may feel a familiar mix of excitement and trepidation. They may wonder how the film will bring to life Maggie O'Farrell’s intimate portrayal of Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes, and the loss of their son.

The Conversation · Jan 9

Hamnet review – Oscar-primed Shakespeare film isn’t as manipulative as its critics claim

4/5 Jessie Buckley, already the Best Actress Oscar frontrunner, is remarkable as William Shakespeare’s wife Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s speculative grief drama

The Independent UK · Jan 8