Hutchinson Heinemann exclusively pre-empts academic Clio Doyle's 'celebration' of Taylor Swift lyrics

Hutchinson Heinemann has pre-empted the first book of literary criticism of Taylor Swift lyrics, Dear Reader: Taylor Swift and the Idea of English Literature, from London academic Clio Doyle. 

Doyle leads the "Taylor Swift and Literature" class at Queen Mary, University of London and ran a podcast until 2023, “Studies in Taylor Swift”, using her PhD in English to interpret singer’s lyrics. 

Editorial director Anna Argenio acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in an exclusive pre-empt from Suzannah Ball at WME. Hutchinson Heinemann will publish it in hardback, e-book and audio in early 2026.  

The blurb reads: “Taylor Swift is arguably the world’s biggest musical star, and her huge appeal is in large part thanks to the quality of her songwriting. In Dear Reader, Clio Doyle – head of the UK’s first university literature class on Taylor Swift – makes the case that Swift’s writing is worthy of study as an artist and poet for our times, inviting the reader to delve into the many layers of her work.  

“Through close analysis of Swift’s writing, Doyle will draw a deep and meaningful connection between Swift’s lyrics and the study of English literature. In arguing that we read Swift as literature, Dear Reader is both a celebration of the words of the 34-year-old singer and songwriter, and a love letter to literature as a discipline: a discipline that teaches you how to understand what you love – and why you love it.” 

Doyle is a writer, podcaster and academic who is interested in how people read, analyse and understand texts both within and outside academia. She holds a PhD in English and Renaissance Studies from Yale University and is a lecturer in Early Modern Literature at Queen Mary, University of London, where she teaches classes on medieval and early modern literature as well as a new module she designed on Taylor Swift and literature. She writes and lectures widely on the study of Swift as literature, hosting the Swift-focused podcast between 2021 and 2023. 

In addition to her research on Swift, her work on early modern topics has won awards, including the Sixteenth Century Society Literature Prize and Yale University’s Theron Rockwell Field Prize. 

Doyle said: “When I started thinking about teaching a module on reading Swift as literature, I turned to TikTok, or SwiftTok. There, I found users clamouring to study Swift at the university level.

“This fantasy of studying Swift is increasingly becoming a reality as more universities add classes on Swift to their undergraduate offerings.  

“But Dear Reader argues that skipping any English class other than a Swift class would be to miss out on much of what she is actually saying. Swift’s work repays the close attention that we give to texts in English departments, and I am delighted at the opportunity to work with Anna and her team at Hutchinson Heinemann to bring this book to Swift fans and lovers of literature.” 

Argenio said: “Only in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would get to blend my love of literature with my love of Taylor Swift, but welcoming Clio to Hutchinson Heinemann provides the best possible coming together of these two passions. 

“I know I speak for the team here – and Swifties worldwide – when I say that there couldn’t be a more exciting proposition for the canon of literary criticism than a book that does justice to Swift’s amazing songwriting and storytelling.”