THIS week people across the country will be celebrating one of the greatest writers of all time.

From March 18 to March 24 it is Shakespeare Week which acknowledges the life time work of William Shakespeare.

Schools all over the UK will be studying the work of the playwright and poet who is arguably the most influential writer in the English language.

He is often considered to be England's national poet and is often referred to as the 'Bard of Avon.'

His works consist of 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, however some of these are of uncertain ownership.

Shakespeare's plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than the works of any other playwright.

To this day, his works are continually studied and reinterpreted.

His early plays were mostly comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres.

Most of his later works were tragedies, which included Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet. All of these are considered to be some of the finest works in the English language.

Until Romeo and Juliet, romance had not been viewed as a worthy topic for tragedy.

Like people in most other parts of the world, Cumbrians have been influenced by the many works of Shakespeare as these photos show.

We can see a rendition of The Tempest being performed in Silloth, Carlisle school pupils taking part in a Shakespeare work shop, and people at Florence Mine Arts centre celebrating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare.