Pan Macmillan to publish Shakespeare anthology by poet Esiri

Pan Macmillan will publish an anthology of William Shakespeare's works by poet Allie Esiri later this year. 

The publisher made the announcement today (23rd April) to mark the Bard’s 455th birthday with Esiri’s Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year to be published on 19th September 2019.

“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,” said Pan Macmillan. 

Curated by Esiri and with expert research 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.

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.”

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.”

Morgan bought UK and Commonwealth rights to the the book via Clare Conville at Conville and Walsh.