Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year cover art

Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year

Daily wisdom from the life and works of the Bard

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year

By: Allie Esiri, Allie Esiri - editor
Narrated by: Allie Esiri, Ben Allen, Damian Lewis, Hattie Morahan, Helen McCrory, Jade Anouka, Jot Davies, Paapa Essiedu, Simon Russell Beale
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £8.61

Buy Now for £8.61

About this listen

From Allie Esiri, editor of the bestselling A Poem for Every Day of the Year and A Poem for Every Night of the Year, comes this beautiful audio anthology of William Shakespeare's works.

Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year is a collection of 365 plays, sonnets and poems, and Esiri’s entertaining and insightful thoughts on each entry will fill your year with wonder, laughter, wisdom and wit.

Each track of this unique collection contains an extract, which might be a famous poem, quote or scene, matched to the date, performed by leading actors such as Sir Simon Russell Beale, Helen McCrory, and Damian Lewis. Allie Esiri's introductions give her readers a new window into the work, time and life of the greatest writer in the English language.

Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year is perfect for listening to together or on your own and brings you Shakespeare’s best-known and best-loved classics alongside lesser known extracts read by a range of award-winning Shakespearean actors.

The complete cast of performers are: Sir Simon Russell Beale, Helen McCrory, Damian Lewis, Hattie Morahan, Paapa Essiedu, Jade Anouka, Ben Allen and Jot Davies.

Dip into this wonderful audio collection each day for inspiration and delight.

 Arts & Entertainment Education & Learning Literature & Fiction Classics Shakespeare

Critic reviews

Perfect for reading, sharing and treasuring.
Experience tells me that the best book presents are sentimental or serendipitous. Having a poem to read every day sweetened the passing of time, and with its hoard of immortal wisdom, the collection was a handrail to hold onto whenever I felt wobbly.
A lucky dip for all ages and a handsome Christmas diversion. (Kate Kellaway)
This month I’ll be reading Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year. (Alice B-B)
Abandon Tweet of the Day for this excellently narrated daily dose celebrating the Bard. Beginning with the prologue to Romeo and Juliet (“Two noble households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona . . .”) and ending with Prospero declaring, “Now my charms are all overthrown,” it will inspire you to revisit Shakespeare’s writing

Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year (Macmillan) is a more questionable idea (do we want
Shakespeare in soundbites?) but it is persuasively pulled off in this daily dose of soliloquies, sonnets and snippets from plays. The book is nicely edited by Allie Esiri (like its predecessors A Poem for Every Night of the Year and A Poem for Every Day of the Year) and what distinguishes it are its fascinating, scholarly prefaces (Professor Michael Dobson should take a bow). A lucky dip for all ages and a handsome Christmas diversion.
Like McGough and Ayres, William Shakespeare understood the wisdom of clowns as well as the power of tears. This would make a perfect gift for anybody who has ever liked a single speech by Shakespeare. Esiri’s choices set 365 extracts in context and she provides a synopsis of every play. Wonderful.
All stars
Most relevant
It is incredibly frustrating that again there is no information on the individual extract and their location in the book, just chapter numbers. I don’t understand why something so simple hasn’t been addressed. I’ve noticed this in several audible items, if you can add the text to display the chapters why can’t it have the information about the book instead?!

Why is there no information about the individual extracts?!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've tried hard to enjoy listening to this book during lockdown. Most of the pieces are well-chosen and varied. The introductions are mostly okay, but often fail to give the context within the play. Getting an extract purely because it mentions the month in question is pretty unsatisfying! Many of these issues were helped by additionally buying the hardback paper edition, but that's surely a cop-out for an audiobook if that's required? However, far and away the biggest problem is some truly awful reading by the cast of actors. I suspect this is a production issue rather than an inability of the actors to read Shakespeare with meaning. It sounds as if they have each been given a long list of short lines to read, without the other cast members around and without the time for them to inject the energy and meaning into the pieces. So, a Curate's egg - "good in parts."

Poor narrations detract from a good idea

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I disagree with the previous poor reviews. Firstly, each extract has a detailed Act and Scene number (the sonnets have line numbers). Secondly, the verse is narrated excellently by a wide range of actors, each giving an expression and feeling of their own. More or less, a sample of every play is here so listeners have the option of exploring the plays fully elsewhere if they so wish. I also liked each day's introduction by Allie Esiri, which uncovered side stories and customs of the time that I didn't know. All in all, another great Audible experience and a welcome addition to my library.

An informed and rounded Shakespeare experience

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I was surprised at the reading of these pieces. The quality of actors was first rate, however I found many of the male voices stilted, and some read melodically without meaning. I gave up after a while as Shakespeare is hard to understand without nuanced delivery. It’s a shame as the commentary by Allie Esiri is first rate.

Problematic readings

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.