What led me to Proust was initially a desire to conquer the largest book I could find. I was naïve, I hadn't quite reached the maturity in reading to understand the full breadth of what literature could offer me.

During my attendance at the Shakespeare Institute open day, I was fortunate enough to receive a lecture from Professor Ewan Fernie on James Shapiro's 1606 — a book which uncovers remarkable links between the tumultuous events of that year and Shakespeare's greatest plays.