Literature has been a core component in English education. By learning literature, learners can learn English without having to understand the grammatical rules directly. With literature, learners can learn both the language and the other elements of it such as culture, moral values, life lessons and relatable situations. Such is the importance of literature; the Ministry of Education Malaysia has integrated it as part of the English curriculum to help increase the level of English proficiency among Malaysian students. However, this has created divisive opinions from various parties due to many challenges and issues faced by teachers and students. This paper aims to investigate the current issues and challenges faced by secondary school teachers and students in learning and teaching English literature. Through this paper, the researchers have highlighted the brief history of the introduction of literature in the English education and how the role of literature has developed throughout the years. Next, a closer look at the challenges and issues faced by teachers and students from previous studies and research have been highlighted for future researchers to take into consideration. By looking at previous studies, it has been discovered that motivation and attitudes towards learning English literature could be major factors that future researchers can further look into.