We Are What We Read
Vybarr Cregan-Reid is an unlikely academic. Someone who knows what it's like to be written off, who left school with no qualifications, who desperately needed a second chance. He also understands better than anyone the power of literature to change a life.
From a turbulent start, through a disastrous education, truancy and petty crime, to a distinguished career as an English professor, We Are What We Read weaves Vybarr's own unexpected life in books with a spirited history of the war on the humanities, uncovering the profound impact that books have in shaping our reality at a time when their value is under attack from governments around the world.
Part memoir, part manifesto, part history, We Are What We Read is not just about how education can place you back on the right side of the tracks. It is also a rallying cry for the importance of literature in a world where the arts are being squeezed out at every level and where book bans in schools and libraries have surged to record highs. It's about the joys and the transformational power of reading and how our brains are rewired by books, exploring how literature offers a vital means of connection in a fractured world. Reading is not merely an escape - it's an essential part of who we are.
Vybarr Cregan-Reid is an author, academic, award-winning teacher and sometimes broadcaster. He has taught at universities and medical schools. He is currently Professor of Creative Non-Fiction at York St John University, where he runs Creative Writing, Media and Film. Vybarr has written widely about literature, nature and the environment for the BBC, The Guardian, The Independent, the Big Issue, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Washington Post, Literary Review and many others. He has made a number of programmes across the BBC radio network and has appeared on the BBC, ITV, Sky News and numerous outlets across the world.