Pan Macmillan Announce New Shakespeare Anthology from 'Poetry Powerhouse' Allie Esiri on the Bard's 455th Birthday

Marking William Shakespeare’s 455th birthday, Pan Macmillan have today announced that ‘poetry powerhouse’ Allie Esiri will be turning her hand to Shakespeare with her next anthology, Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year (19th September). 

Following the break-out success of her poetry collections A Poem for Every Night of the Year and A Poem for Every Day of the Year, together with her live poetry events at the National Theatre, Allie Esiri has built a reputation for championing the joy and benefits of poetry and making it inspiring, current and accessible for all. And now, her latest anthology will highlight the works of one of the greatest poets and playwrights of all time to a whole new audience of readers. 

From sonnets and soliloquys, to famous quotes and extracts, Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year will present a perfect piece of Shakespeare for every day of the year. Exquisitely curated by Esiri and with expert advice from Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham, each of the 365 works comes with an introductory paragraph, historical context, important dates and performances, information about Shakespeare’s sources and rivals, and much more. Perfect for reading aloud and sharing with all the family, it is bursting at the seams with familiar favourites and exciting new discoveries.

Allie Esiri, said: “I am thrilled that Macmillan has let me continue the series of anthologies with a book about the greatest poet of all. Shakespeare wrote more poetry than we think, he was a bestselling poet in his lifetime and of course his plays are nearly entirely composed of poetry. It has been a joy (plus two research-intense years) to choose and write the daily intros for Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year. 

Ben Johnson said of Shakespeare, his friend and rival poet, that he was “not of the age, but for all time”.  Shakespeare’s writing abolishes the distances between us. These 365 poems and extracts from the plays stand alone and help us to understand what it is to be human.”

Gaby Morgan, Editorial Director at Macmillan, said: “Allie Esiri is an astonishing, passionate font of ideas and creative energy, and it’s a privilege to be swept along on her journeys through poetry. She continues to play a vital role in bringing people to poetry and making it part of their day, every day. Bringing us daily Shakespeare – our greatest poet and playwright - his world, his characters, his

poetry is inspired, nourishing and fascinating and we know that readers of all ages will love dipping into her new collection.” 

Pan Macmillan also revealed the striking new cover for Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year today designed to sit alongside her previous bestselling collections, A Poem for Every Night of the Year and A Poem for Every Day of the Year.

A former actress, Allie Esiri has been described in a Tatler profile as ‘a poetry powerhouse.’ Credited with bringing poetry in to the digital age, her bestselling apps iF Poems and The Love Book feature

readings by Helena Bonham Carter, Harry Enfield, Tom Hiddleston, Damian Lewis, Helen McCrory, Bill Nighy and Emma Watson. Her anthologies include iF: A Treasury of Poems for Almost Every Possibility and later collections A Poem for Every Night of the Year and A Poem for Every Day of the Year were phenomenal successes as The Times and The Observer best [poetry] books of the year. Allie now organises and hosts live poetry events which can draw enormous crowds.

Her next event, produced by and marking the start of a new relationship with Fane Productions , will showcase women poets through history, with the help of special guest actors Helena Bonham Carter, Helen McCrory and Josette Simon at the Bridge Theatre on Sunday 28th April.  A series of festival and theatre events for Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year, produced by Fane, is planned for Autumn 2019.

For all media enquiries please contact Annabel Robinson or Sophie Goodfellow at FMcM on 020 7405 7422