On Shakespeare's Sonnets

'These contributors are some of the best, and best-known poets writing today ... The result is a slimly elegant book of new poetry, some of it very fine indeed ... It really is extraordinary that these sonnets, first published in 1609, can still be engendering such a range of new ideas and ways of expressing them.' - The Independent

On Shakespeare's Sonnets: A Poets' Celebration brings together thirty of the world's foremost contemporary poets writing in response to Shakespeare's Sonnets. In the years since Shakespeare's death, the Sonnets have invited imitation, homage, critique, parody and pastiche. These poems probe our relationship to the Sonnets' intricate form and ambitious scope, their investigation of sexuality, wit, memory and poetic survival. These sonnets and longer lyrics explore what it means to write 'on Shakespeare's Sonnets' in the 21st century. This new paperback edition also includes an updated preface. Published in association with the Royal Society of Literature, contributing poets include: Andrew Motion, Carol Ann Duffy, Gillian Clarke, Paul Muldoon, Ruth Padel, Simon Armitage, Roger McGough, Wendy Cope, Jackie Kay, Mimi Khalvati, Imtiaz Dharker and Jo Shapcott, among many others.