INSTRUCTOR | Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Liza Achilles will present a literature class titled “Shakespeare’s Sonnets: 400 Years of Timeless Love” for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Towson University. Thursday afternoons, 2:30-3:45pm, 8 weeks, September 17 – November 12, 2026, in Towson, Maryland.
William Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence was first published over 400 years ago and still resonates with readers today. “But thy eternal summer shall not fade,” proclaims the most famous of them all (Sonnet 18). The poet addresses these words to a young man known as the Fair Youth; but the words also refer to the poetry itself. We will examine the life and times of Shakespeare and learn how he crafted these masterful 14-line poems, which have often been ignored due to their shocking sexual content. In this course, we will read and discuss Shakespeare’s Sonnets as well as selected sonnets by other writers from various historical periods, from the Italian Renaissance through the twenty-first century.
