SLNSW to commemorate Shakespeare anniversary

The State Library of NSW will commemorate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death on 23 April with a celebration to be headlined by singer-songwriter Paul Kelly.

Other events include a silent film festival, a ‘sonnet slam’, a Shakespeare trivia night and a ‘Shakespeare Fan Day’. The library will also exhibit its copy of the 1623 ‘First Folio’, Shakespeare’s first collection of works, as well as other ‘Shakespeariana’ from its collection.

The library’s rare books expert Maggie Patton said the First Folio is ‘the closest a reader can get to the original source’, as there are no manuscripts of the plays in Shakespeare’s own hand. ‘It’s hard to imagine that sixteen of Shakespeare’s early plays—published in the First Folio thanks to the Bard’s fellow actors—may have never been published and that works like Anthony & Cleopatra, The Tempest or Twelfth Night might have been lost to generations of audiences,’ said Patton.

The library will also open its Shakespeare Room every day from 10am to 4pm from 18-23 April.

Category: Library news