Shakespeare Plus: Billy Collins, Shakespeare shrinkage, and a turkey trio

Billy Collins Billy Collins is one of America’s most well-known poets. In a wide-ranging interview, Collins talks about humanizing Shakespeare and other literary titans, delves into his own work and inspirations, and reads from his newest collection, Musical Tables.   Listen to the Episode Shakespeare Shrinkage Script changes are almost always made, but what are the reasons behind them? Austin Tichenor discusses the troubling acceptance he sees among directors and actors of the notion that Shakespeare is supposed to be hard to understand, and how to combat this.   Read the Blog Post       Patricia Akhimie Named Folger Institute Director Dr. Patricia Akhimie, Director of the RaceB4Race Mentorship Network and Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University-Newark, has been named Director of the Folger Institute. She will lead the Folger’s scholarly programs and fellowships, supporting new and established forms of scholarship in the early modern humanities and making new connections with working scholars and the public. Dr. Akhimie begins as the Folger Institute’s Director in summer 2023.   Full Announcement Folger Institute RaceB4Race     Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃   Birds of Shakespeare: The wild turkey Strutting walk, fanned feathers. With the wild turkey, we continue following artist Missy Dunaway on a bird-watching expedition through Shakespeare’s works.   Read the Blog Post Before the turkey came the banquet peacock When the turkey was introduced to early modern Europe from the Americas, it quickly became popular, supplanting the peacock as a centerpiece for holiday feasts.   Read the Blog Post Turkey travels: Across the Atlantic to the Mughal court In the year 1612, Jahangir, the fourth emperor of the South Asian Islamic-Mughal dynasty, was presented with a bird he had never seen or heard of before—the turkey.   Read the Blog Post     #FolgerFinds For more encounters with the Folger collection, follow @FolgerLibrary on Instagram.       VISIT | CONNECT | SUPPORT     Folger Shakespeare Library | 201 East Capitol Street, SE Washington, DC 20003   Main (202) 544-4600 | Box Office (202) 544-7077 | info@folger.edu Image Credits: Billy Collins. Photo by Bill Hayes. | Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth in Romeo & Juliet (2013) |  Patricia Akhimie. Photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen | Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo Mexicana) by Missy Dunaway | “Still Life with a Peacock Pie”, Pieter Claesz (oil on panel, 1627), image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington | Mansur’s painting of a domesticated turkey, ca. 1612, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.