On Monday this week I hosted a webinar, Getting to Know Shakespeare, with Professor Ewan Fernie of The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. The recording is now available.
We took the title of The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s new course, Getting to Know Shakespeare and used it to reflect a little on how we first got to know Shakespeare. How did we first encounter the works? What was Shakespeare for us in our early imaginations and how has this helped to shape how we understand and enjoy Shakespeare today?
The discussion touches on the different kinds of Shakespeare we might encounter and considers Shakespeare as important source of inspiration for later writers, notable John Keats and Charles Dickens. And we discuss, too, how Shakespeare is introduced to people in schools.
The webinar attracted an international audience including attendees from Argentina, the Philippinnes, Sweden, Finland, the United States, the United Kingdom, and many more…
You can listen and watch the webinar here
Hope you enjoy it, and let us know what you think.
How did you first get to know Shakespeare?