Farah Karim-Cooper is the new director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, the institution announced in a news release.
Karim-Cooper, an author and academic, will lead the 92-year-old Washington, D.C., library, which houses extensive printed works from the playwright and offers resources to educators who are teaching the Bard to their students.
Karim-Cooper, the library said, is “a field leader in examining Shakespeare’s plays through the lens of race and social justice.” She is the author of several books, including The Hand on the Shakespearean Stage: Gesture, Touch and the Spectacle of Dismemberment and The Great White Bard: How To Love Shakespeare While Talking About Race. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the latter book “an essential addition to Shakespeare studies.”
D. Jarrett Arp, the chair of the library’s board of governors, said in a statement, “The Search Committee and the Board of Governors were impressed with Farah’s deep, diversified track record and experiences, which traverse the world of Shakespeare studies, performance, collections, media, and connecting with a variety of audiences.”
And Karim-Cooper said, “The Folger is a world-renowned and beloved institution, a significant beacon of knowledge that daily demonstrates the importance of the humanities. I am truly honored to uphold its founding mission while forging new ways to demonstrate how Shakespeare’s work speaks to our moment.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
