All the World's Your Stage Shakespeare for Today

Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper is the eighth director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C., USA. The Folger, established in 1932, houses a vast collection of Shakespearean works and materials from the early modern period. As director, Dr. Karim-Cooper leads a staff of approximately 150 individuals responsible for the collection’s growth and preservation, research and scholarship opportunities, programming for the Folger’s Elizabethan-style theatre, training for educators and students, and the operation of museum galleries and a café. As the Folger approaches its centennial, Dr. Karim-Cooper is guiding the organization to become a global leader in the practical application of Shakespeare and the humanities in civic life.

Prior to her role at the Folger, Dr. Karim-Cooper served as Professor of Shakespeare Studies at King’s College London and as Director of Education (Higher Education & Research) at Shakespeare’s Globe, where she dedicated 20 years of her career. During her tenure at the Globe, she chaired the former Architecture Research Group, leading architectural inquiries into early modern theatres and overseeing research into the design and construction of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. She was also a co-project leader with the CEO and Artistic Director on the playhouse’s construction.

Dr. Karim-Cooper served as President of the Shakespeare Association of America from 2021 to 2022, following a five-year term on its Board of Trustees. In recognition of her contributions to Shakespeare Studies and Inclusivity, she was awarded the British Shakespeare Association Fellowship Award in 2023. She also held an Oxford Humanities Cultural Programme Fellowship and was a Visiting Fellow at Exeter College, Oxford, from 2022 to 2023.

She has authored over 40 chapters in books, reviews, and articles. She has also served as a co-General Editor for Arden’s “Shakespeare in the Theatre” series and their “Critical Intersections Series.” Her published works on Shakespeare, theatre, performance, and culture include:

• Cosmetics in Shakespearean and Renaissance Drama (Edinburgh University Press, 2006; revised ed., 2019)
• The Hand on the Shakespearean Stage: Gesture, Touch and the Spectacle of Dismemberment (Arden, 2016)

She has co-edited several books, including:

• Shakespeare’s Globe: A Theatrical Experiment with Christie Carson (Cambridge University Press, 2008)
• Shakespeare’s Theatres and Effects of Performance with Tiffany Stern (Arden, 2012)
• Moving Shakespeare Indoors: Performance and Repertoire in the Jacobean Playhouse with Andrew Gurr (Cambridge University Press, 2014)

Additionally, she edited:

• Titus Andronicus: The State of Play (Arden, 2019)
• The text of John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi for the Routledge Anthology of Early Modern Drama, collated by Jeremy Lopez (2020)

Her book, The Great White Bard: Shakespeare, Race and the Future (2023), was recognized among the top 100 books of 2023 by Time Magazine, NPR, and The New Yorker.

Her latest book, All the World’s Your Stage: Shakespeare for Today, written for children aged 9-12, is scheduled for publication in November 2025 by DK.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.