William Shakespeare

Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, he grew up in a market town before building a career in London as an actor, playwright, and shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the playing company that later became the King’s Men. He died in 1616, but his work never slipped into the past.

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language. His surviving works include about 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and several longer poems, ranging from comedies such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night to tragedies like Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth.

What makes his writing last is not just the famous lines, but the emotional range behind them. He could be playful, cruel, tender, philosophical, and sharply funny, often all at once, and his characters still feel recognizably real on the page and on the stage.