Is English literature dying - and does it matter?

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The New Statesman

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🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

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Summary

English literature no longer makes the top ten of A-level subject choices. English departments at universities are regularly closing. Studies show dramatic drops in literacy and reading, particularly amongst teenagers.

Today we’re asking: is English literature dying?

The New Statesman’s deputy editor Will Lloyd is joined by the New Statesman’s new culture editor Tanjil Rashid and columnist and critic James Marriott.

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English literature's last stand - James Marriott

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The New Statesman.
0:06.6	English literature no longer makes the top 10 of A-level subject choices.
0:11.6	English departments at universities are regularly closing.
0:14.9	Studies show dramatic drops in literacy and reading, particularly amongst teenagers.
0:23.9	So today, we're asking, is English literature dying? I'm Will Lloyd. I'm the deputy editor of the New Statesman, and this is the
0:28.9	New Statesman podcast. I'm joined today by the New States. Well, let's welcome him here, the New Statesman's
0:41.8	new culture editor, Tangil Rashid.
0:43.8	Hello, Tanjul.
0:44.4	Hi.
0:45.1	And we're also joined by the Times columnist and critic James Marriott.
0:51.7	James, in the New Statesman recently, you reviewed a book by Stefan Kalini, which I think you enjoyed.
0:58.2	Yeah, I mean, it's not really a book that was maybe written to be enjoyed.
1:02.0	It was maybe written more to inform than to enjoy.
1:04.3	It was very long, but yeah, I finished it.
1:06.2	I got through it.
1:07.0	You reviewed it.
1:07.6	I got through it.
1:08.3	Yes.
1:08.8	It's called Literature and Learning.
1:11.6	It was about the development of English literature and its teaching in the 19th and 20th
1:13.6	century.
1:14.6	As we discussed, this is a subject that we'll make for a viral podcast, X clips and 100,000
	...

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