From Bard to Bookshelf SignUp Sheet

It's 23rd April, so kind of a busy day. First, its' Saint George’s Day, so if any of you are English patriots, or otherwise interested, click here to read about him (Then hang around that site. It’s a great site with retellings of all the myths with a giant dose of humour. Well, not all of them, obviously. But lots of them).

Happy World Book Night! Have fun, everyone who's giving books out, either as an official person with the pretty covers, or as a Community Giver, giving books to people because why not?

Finally, more the reason for this post. 23 April is the accepted birthday (and death day) of William Shakespeare, and this year's even more special, as it should be Shakespeare's 450th birthday.

You may or may not know that I really like Shakespeare's plays. I love seeing them performed. i am attempting to have done one-person dramatic readings  of three quarters of his plays by the time I leave school. I’m working on it...

Anyway, sometimes I wonder. Why are his stories so popular that they’ve lasted centuries, being performed by countless players, and adapted by so many writers? I know that his plays were often based off other stories, but it’s his take on them  that we remember.

And it’s his take on them that gets adapted a lot. It’s often into films, but then there’ll be other plays. And comic books. And manga. And novels. And I want to do something to celebrate this.

I’m planning a blog event to happen in  August when we all celebrate Shakespeare, and Shakespeare’s influence on YA. It's open to anyone who enjoys Shakespeare; readers, writers, actors, whoever. I’m thinking posts you host on your site unless you really want it hosted here, reviews of plays by or YA inspired by Shakespeare, alternative interpretations, posts about themes in Shakespeare and YA,opefully a few giveaways here, anything goes.

If you’d like to take part, fill out the form below,  and do a post or video or somehow spread the word about this event, linking back here. Soon there’ll be a pretty button you can share, when I’m a little less busy. I’ll email you to talk about what you want to do, and sort out posting dates and things. Signups are open until mid-July.

 I leave you with one of my favourite lines from Macbeth.