It’s fair to say we enjoy a good read at Edinburgh. The University is home to the oldest department of English Literature in the world, founded in 1762. A mere 250 years on, and in another world first, the city of Edinburgh was designated a UNESCO City of Literature, in 2004.

With the international book festival on our doorstep and our current-day School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures organising and awarding the only book prize in the UK that actively involves students in the judging panel: the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes for literature, biography and previously drama, some might go so far as to call us a little bookish. Established in 1919, the Prize is the UK’s longest-running book award, with a who’s who of literary giants as past winners.

Nowadays we also invite students and alumni to enter three writing prizes, the Grierson Verse Prize, the Sloan Prize and the Lewis Edwards Memorial Prize, all established to encourage remarkable talent in prose and poetry. Perhaps it could even be said that we’re a little obsessed with the written word.

Against this backdrop we want to support the UK’s 2026 National Year of Reading. Who better to ask about a good read, than our inspirational academics, who bring literature to life for our undergraduate and postgraduate students every day. Which books do they recommend? What titles do they return to? How do different publications perform in the classroom? And just what are they reading themselves?