There’s no such thing as a “favourite classic”.

After a long career of publishing books, I find it impossible to pick an overall favourite that stands above all the others. Instead of a single favourite text, I tend to think in terms of a “parliament of books”, a substantial list of the greatest works, from ancient Greece to the present day, all of which talk to me in different ways.

My appreciation of them has varied over time, depending on such factors as my age, experiences and mood. To give an example, I find Homer’s Odyssey one of the most pleasurable to read – it is the birth of literature, and even of western culture. Another example, from a very different time and place, would be Shakespeare’s King Lear.

In addition to accepted canonical works, there are also the numerous books by many writers that I have published over the years, which I would never have done if I had not found something to admire and feel enthusiasm for in each of them. I hope that they will continue to delight readers of future generations, as they have done ours.

John Calder