About

One Book, One Southampton is a community-wide reading programme which aims to engage our internal and external community in a common conversation centred on a carefully chosen, thought-provoking book.

The core of this exciting new annual programme is the selection of a book (fiction or non-fiction) that becomes a voluntary common reading for both students, staff and our local community for a year.

The ‘big read’ will be supported and enriched by multiple events and discussions through the year. These events will reflect and engage with the topic of the book. Academics are encouraged to engage with the annual book in their teaching programmes.

The key criteria for the choice of the book each year are:

• Readability and potential to engage a diverse set of people
• Relevance to students, staff and wider society
• Sufficient depth and scope to generate lively discussions from different points of view
• Likelihood that it will be ‘new’ to many people
• Connection to one or more institutional initiatives or strengths