Which books and authors first inspired you to become an academic? That’s the question we ask social scientists across the world in our popular Academic Inspiration feature. With the new term starting this month, managing editor Amy Mollett opens the call for new contributions from academics working in all disciplines and at all levels. Find out how to contribute below.

Aiming to showcase the more personal side of academia not often shared, our Academic Inspiration pieces are a revealing look at the books which first inspired some of today’s most prominent academics.

Some of the most-read pieces have been from Conor Gearty, on how Plato’s Republic had such a dramatic impact on him that he tried to dump law and read politics; from Imani Perry, on how Shakespeare drove her interest in inequality; and from the late Elinor Ostrom, on some of the most important books from her early career.

LSE Review of Books are now looking for a fresh selection of contributions for this feature. If you have a story to tell about a biography you found in the corner of an old bookshop that went on to shape your research, then we want to publish it. If you have a tale of a two hundred year old pamphlet that your Professor recommended to you, then we want to publish it. And if you have a declaration of love for the book that you come to year after year and continues to shape the way you write, then we want to publish it.

To get you thinking, my three personal favourite pieces are included just below. These are pieces that have a beautiful mix of nostalgic reflection, real passion for the book in all its glorious forms, and a sprinkling of pop culture references alongside major political and societal events.

We’re looking for contributions from PhD students, Lecturers, Readers, and Professors working at an academic institution in the social sciences and humanities, across a range of ethnic and gender backgrounds. Pieces should be no more than 1000 words, and contributors are free to cover as many books as they’d like, or focus on one or two special ones.

As part of our commitment to a diverse representation of academic voices, we’re particularly interested in hearing from women and under represented minorities.

To browse our published pieces so far, head to our Academic Inspiration section. For more information and to contribute, please contact our managing editor Amy Mollett at lsereviewofbooks@lse.ac.uk

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The books that inspired Imani Perry: “Whitewashing Race by Michael K. Brown has a human sensitivity that is often lacking when we talk about race and power”

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The books that inspired John Van Reenen: “All us geeks loved Peter Parker – bullied at school, no girlfriend, etc. I was fortunate enough to read the first issues of Spider Man courtesy of the “Mighty World of Marvel”, cheap British reprints of the American originals. I would recommend reading the first 20 or so issues of the “Amazing Spider Man” by founder of Marvel comics Stan Lee and crazed artist Steve Ditko”

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The books that inspired Cynthia Enloe: “I’ve kept my folder of Hannah Arendt’s original yellowing magazine articles to remind me that profound works of political thought can (and should) appear on the local news stand”

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