How does reading fiction impact our imagination and mental health?

How does reading fiction impact our imagination and mental health?

From All in the Mind by BBC Radio 4

June 2, 2026 · 28 min

About this episode

Claudia Hammond explores the impact of reading fiction on imagination and mental health with expert guests at the Hay Festival.

How does reading shape our mind and spirit? Why do novels make us feel more human? In front of a live audience at the Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, Claudia Hammond looks at the science of what reading does to the mind and explores the profound impact it can have on our lives and well-being. She is joined on stage by award-winning novelist and travel writer Joanna Kavenna; Dr Paula Byrne, Jane Austen biographer, writer and co-founder of ReLit: The Bibliotherapy Foundation and Ben Alderson-Day, Professor in Psychology at Durham University and lead researcher on ReaderBank, an ongoing research project studying reading, imagination and wellbeing. With these leading experts in psychology and the literary world, she examines the range of imaginative experiences that fiction readers have, whether novels can deepen our capacity for empathy and the therapeutic effect of reading on our minds. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Helena Selby Editor: Ilan Goodman Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

People in this episode

Host: Claudia Hammond

Guests: Joanna Kavenna, Dr Paula Byrne, Ben Alderson-Day

Topics covered

  • reading
  • imagination
  • mental health
  • literature
  • empathy
  • well-being

Keywords

  • reading
  • fiction
  • mental health
  • imagination
  • empathy
  • literature
  • well-being
  • psychology
  • therapeutic effect

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ReLit: The Bibliotherapy Foundation, Durham University

Books & works: Jane Austen

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