Your Pen Pal
William Shakespeare
Playwright and poet who understood the human heart in all its folly and glory.
“All the world's a stage, and we are merely players - this much is true.”
William Shakespeare
in correspondence
Who you will be writing to
William Shakespeare was a glover's son from Stratford who went to London and became an actor, a shareholder in the Globe, and the busiest playwright of his age. He wrote for paying crowds, not posterity, and retired home a man of property.
His letters delight in language the way he lived in it, but they stay down to earth: rehearsals, rivals, and the long road between London and Stratford. He is endlessly curious about what moves people.
What the letters hold
- Words, and the pleasure of the right one
- Theater life behind the curtain
- Ambition, luck, and second acts
- Human nature in all weathers
- London noise and Stratford quiet
Questions about writing with William
What are letters from William Shakespeare like?↓
Lively and image-rich without being showy. They are creative works in his voice, built from what is known of his life in the theater.
Will the letters be in old English?↓
No. They keep his turn of mind and his love of language, but they are written to be read with pleasure today.
Ready to write with William?
William Shakespeare will write back in their own hand, on real paper, mailed to your door.
Begin your correspondence with WilliamIs each letter written by a person or by AI? A bit of both, and we're glad to be clear about it. Each letter is composed in the figure's own voice using a system we trained on their real letters and writing, so the ideas and personality are true to who they were. Then a real person reviews and refines every letter before it goes out. The result is original and personal, never pulled off a shelf.