Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
If you're thinking about studying English Literature at Oxford, or you're simply curious about how English is studied here, these books make great summer reading 📚
This list was curated by Professor Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Tutorial Fellow in English at Magdalen College, Oxford and Professor of English Literature.
Please note that this is not an official reading list, but a selection of recommended summer reading.
Reading list:
1) Introduction to Literature, Criticism, and Theory by Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle.
Try to use the concepts you find here with the books you’ve already read, what do they make you think about?
2)Terry Eagleton, How to Read a Poem.
This witty and very accessible book on poetry talks about how reading poetry might just be a skill we’re losing. The book goes through close analyses of poems from the renaissance to the present day, and is an excellent guide in your next steps of reading.
3) Key Concepts in Literary Theory, Julian Wolfreys, Ruth Robbins, and Kenneth Womack.
Gives a broad range of concise definitions of the most significant terms used in literary theory today.
4) How Fiction Works by James Wood.
A text looking at narrative, detail, characterisation, dialogue, realism, and style. Looking at a huge range of fiction from Beatrix Potter to John le Carré.
5) The Empty Space by Peter Brook - groundbreaking director Peter Brook covers important developments and breakthroughs in the theatre of the last century.
🎬 | Magdalen College, University of Oxford
If you're thinking about studying English Literature at Oxford, or you're simply curious about how English is studied here, these books make great summer reading 📚
This list was curated by Professor Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Tutorial Fellow in English at Magdalen College, Oxford and Professor of English Literature.
Please note that this is not an official reading list, but a selection of recommended summer reading.
Reading list:
1) Introduction to Literature, Criticism, and Theory by Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle.
Try to use the concepts you find here with the books you’ve already read, what do they make you think about?
2)Terry Eagleton, How to Read a Poem.
This witty and very accessible book on poetry talks about how reading poetry might just be a skill we’re losing. The book goes through close analyses of poems from the renaissance to the present day, and is an excellent guide in your next steps of reading.
3) Key Concepts in Literary Theory, Julian Wolfreys, Ruth Robbins, and Kenneth Womack.
Gives a broad range of concise definitions of the most significant terms used in literary theory today.
4) How Fiction Works by James Wood.
A text looking at narrative, detail, characterisation, dialogue, realism, and style. Looking at a huge range of fiction from Beatrix Potter to John le Carré.
5) The Empty Space by Peter Brook - groundbreaking director Peter Brook covers important developments and breakthroughs in the theatre of the last century.
🎬 | Magdalen College, University of Oxford
