By Chris Green for the Independent, 25 December 2015
They have long been acknowledged as the national bards of England and Scotland, their mastery of language ensuring that their legacies are still celebrated centuries after their deaths. Now William Shakespeare and Robert Burns are going head to head at last in what is believed to be the first-ever academic conference to consider the work of both men.
Staged on 16 January, nine days before Burns Night and in the year that the UK will mark 400 years since Shakespeare’s death, the event will shine a light on how the bard of Stratford-upon-Avon influenced the work of Scotland’s most famous poet. It will also examine the two men’s roles in the development of English and Scottish national identities, a much-debated subject in the wake of 2014’s independence referendum.
Shakespeare’s work is known to have played an important role in the education of Burns, who is likely to have seen his plays in local theatres. He made frequent references to the playwright in his letters to friends, quoting lines from Othello and Romeo and Juliet.
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