Shakespeare 400
Shakespeare Lives

The Shakespeare 400 Collection contains recordings of twenty sonnets read by ten major poets. Each poet has chosen a favourite sonnet by Shakespeare and, inspired by that sonnet, has written a new sonnet of their own.
Celebrating the work of William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death, the British Council supported The Poetry Archive to enable us to record and present the Shakespeare 400 Collection as part of the Shakespeare Lives in 2016 programme.
These sonnets are included in the Bloomsbury anthology, ‘On Shakespeare’s Sonnets – A Poets’ Celebration’, published in partnership with the Royal Society of Literature and Kings College London. The book contains 30 Shakespeare sonnets and new sonnets by thirty poets.
Sonnet 11
Read by Jackie Kay
Sonnet 11 - William Shakespeare - Read by Jackie Kay
Thirty-Five - Jackie Kay
Sonnet 12
Read by Andrew Motion
Sonnet 12 - William Shakespeare - Read by Andrew Motion
Rhapsodies - Andrew Motion
Sonnet 33
Read by Mimi Khalvati
Sonnet 33 - William Shakespeare - Read by Mimi Khalvati
Hearing Voices - Mimi Khalvati
Sonnet 36
Read by Don Paterson
Sonnet 36 - William Shakespeare - Read by Don Paterson
by Don Paterson