“Literature has been my life.” ~ Michael Rosen

Michael Rosen

“Literature has been my life. I studied it through the 50s and 60s and then picked it up again in the 90s with postgraduate degrees (MA and PhD).

Literature is a way of looking at ourselves in the world. It gives us ‘talking pictures’ and ‘memorable speech’ through presenting us with beings we come to care about. As these beings go through their challenges we experience feelings and ideas at the same time. This has helped me through some difficult and terrible times but it’s also given me huge amounts of fun and pleasure. I can look at it in a materialist way too: having studied literature has enabled me to earn a very good living as a writer, performer, journalist, broadcaster, YouTuber (!) and university teacher.”