THIS week people will be celebrating arguably the most famous playwright in history.

From March 18 to March 24 it is Shakespeare Week, which acknowledges the many works of William Shakespeare.

Shakespeare Week is a national annual celebration giving primary school-aged children opportunities for early encounters with Shakespeare.

It is one of the pathways to Shakespeare provided by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for people of all ages and stages of interest.

This year it is the tenth anniversary of the week with the Trust hoping to offer a 'bigger and more vibrant programme.'

William Shakespeare himself was most famous as a playwright but was also a poet and actor, many regard him as the greatest writer in the English language.

He is known as England's National Poet and the 'Bard of Avon.' In his lifetime he wrote 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and some other verses.

His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than any other playwright.

His works are some of the most influential in the English language and are continually studied and reinterpreted.

Many of his early works were comedies and histories, however, he then went on to write tragedies.

Some of the tragedies including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth are considered to be some of his finest works.

These photos show how William Shakespeare and his lifetime of work have influenced people in Cumbria.

We can see staff at a school in Aspatria celebrating 400 years of Shakespeare, a costume exhibition in Workington, a production of the Merchant of Venice at Lakes College, and people gathering in Workington's Hall Park to watch a rendition of Romeo and Juliet.