| Oxford Literary Festival

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Historian, novelist and broadcaster Simon Sebag Montefiore journeys through the history of the world

Image credit: Faye Thomas ©

Actor and new chancellor of Oxford Brookes University Paterson Joseph talks about his first novel

Image credit: Robert Catto ©

Booker-winning novelist Eleanor Catton introduces her new psychological thriller, Birnam Wood

Stand-up comedian and historian Al Murray talks about his love of military history and the Second World War

Leta-mccollough-seletzky-author-photo-by-gretchen-adams-rgb

Image credit: Gretchen-Adams ©

Leta McCullough Seletzky on her father's shocking appearance at the shooting of Martin Luther King

Image credit: Mikael Buck ©

Thriller writer Mick Herron talks about his life and his writing of crime fiction.

Expert on racial justice and government adviser Professor Nicola Rollock uncovers the hidden rules of race and racism

Join former Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell as she talks about her out-of-this-world new series, Which Way to Anywhere

Food writer and journalist Skye McAlpine shows how home cooked food can be used to nourish our loved ones as well as ourselves

Booking is now open for the 2023 festival. FIND EVENTS RECENTLY ADDED TO THE PROGRAMME

Title partner

International radio partner

Supporter of programme of science and medicine and annual science and innovation award

Festival cultural partner

Festival ideas partner

Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme

Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom

Festival London hotel partner

Supporters of the festival green room

Festival on-site and online bookseller

Supporter of Italian programme

Sponsor of the festival crime fiction programme

Woodstock festival hotel

Patron donor for the programme of Irish literature and culture

Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture

CEO of Project People

Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture

Exeter College: college home of the festival

Worcester College

Lincoln College

St Cross College

Trinity College

Wines of the Douro Valley

Prestige publishing partner

Books which change you, your mind, your world

Partner of Jewish programme

Olive oil from Sicily

Regional media partner

Local radio partner

Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design

Alumni Office

Accountants to the festival

Oxford University Images

Siren Communications - corporate consultants

K T Bruce Photography

Wines of Provence

Hattus Books

Sheldonian events

Festival information:

The Oxford Literary Festival is intellectual Viagra.

I came away buzzing and reassured that we still have in this century a wide ranging community fascinated not just by famous authors (I’ve rarely seen so many concentrated in one place) but by challenging ideas and questions.

The night in Oxford was the most beautiful event I have ever done. Not just the spectacular setting (of the Sheldonian), but an unforgettable evening.

The Oxford Literary Festival has in my mind become the leading literary festival of the year. The organisation, the roster of speakers, the ambience and the sheer quality of it all is superb. May it now go from strength to strength each year stretching its ambition more and more. I believe it will.

It was a privilege for me to visit the festival to receive the Bodley Medal. As an incidental blessing I saw Oxford at its most mysterious and atmospheric. It was a day of piercing cold and as I walked through the twilight from the Sheldonian to Christ Church, the streets were empty and the whole city was shutting itself away. Christ Church was silent except for the footfall of unseen persons around corners and the sounds of evensong creeping from behind closed doors. For the first time I understood thoroughly the power of college ghost stories.

The Oxford festival is the most elegant and atmospheric of literary festivals. It’s a pleasure to both attend and perform there.

Every literary festival stays in an author’s mind for slightly individual reasons. I shall remember the Oxford festival for: - the size of the audience: at the top end of the range - their intelligence – this makes a huge difference for a speaker. In the Oxford audience I encountered many experts in the field my book covered and even one of the ambassadors I’d quoted - the beauty and the grace of the place itself – incomparable - the willingness of my hearers to buy books afterwards; I’ve never sold more.

Often as an author, I only occasionally get to meet the public who buy and read my books. The Oxford Literary Festival was a special opportunity for me and certainly one of the highlights of my career – it was an honour I will never forget.

FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

Title partner

International radio partner

Supporter of programme of science and medicine and annual science and innovation award

Festival cultural partner

Festival ideas partner

Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme

Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom

Festival London hotel partner

Supporters of the festival green room

Festival on-site and online bookseller

Supporter of Italian programme

Sponsor of the festival crime fiction programme

Woodstock festival hotel

Patron donor for the programme of Irish literature and culture

Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture

CEO of Project People

Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture

Exeter College: college home of the festival

Worcester College

Lincoln College

St Cross College

Trinity College

Wines of the Douro Valley

Prestige publishing partner

Books which change you, your mind, your world

Partner of Jewish programme

Olive oil from Sicily

Regional media partner

Local radio partner

Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design

Alumni Office

Accountants to the festival

Oxford University Images

Siren Communications - corporate consultants

K T Bruce Photography

Wines of Provence

Hattus Books

Historian, novelist and broadcaster Simon Sebag Montefiore journeys through the history of the world

Actor and new chancellor of Oxford Brookes University Paterson Joseph talks about his first novel

Booker-winning novelist Eleanor Catton introduces her new psychological thriller, Birnam Wood

Stand-up comedian and historian Al Murray talks about his love of military history and the Second World War

Leta McCullough Seletzky on her father's shocking appearance at the shooting of Martin Luther King

Thriller writer Mick Herron talks about his life and his writing of crime fiction.

Expert on racial justice and government adviser Professor Nicola Rollock uncovers the hidden rules of race and racism

Join former Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell as she talks about her out-of-this-world new series, Which Way to Anywhere

Food writer and journalist Skye McAlpine shows how home cooked food can be used to nourish our loved ones as well as ourselves

Sheldonian events

Henry Dimbleby Introduced by Philip Lymbery

Ravenous: Why our Appetite is Killing us and the Planet

Val McDermid and Sue Black

The Facts of Fiction: The Author and the Forensic Anthropologist

Michael Morpurgo Interviewed by Philip Lymbery

Farms for City Children: The Peter Roberts Memorial Lecture

Anthony Horowitz

Thrills and Spills: From the Diamond Brothers to Alex Rider

Michael Morpurgo

Tales from the Farm: Writing about Nature, Animals and the Landscape

Cressida Cowell

Which Way to Anywhere

Anthony Horowitz Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

The Twist of a Knife and a Writing Life

John Banville, John Boyne and Neil Jordan Chaired by Claire Armitstead

Voices of Ireland: Literature, History and Nation

Jeremy Bowen

The Making of the Modern Middle East: A Personal History

Martin Rees Interviewed by Nick Higham

Science and Innovation Award: If Science is to Save Us

Joseph Coelho

The Power of Poetry with the New Children’s Laureate

Mikhail Khodorkovsky Interviewed by Martin Sixsmith

The Russia Conundrum

Tom Holland

Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind

Gary Younge, Deborah Meaden, Kenan Malik and David Starkey Chaired by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Oxford Debate: You Ask the Questions

Mick Herron Interviewed by Chris Patten

Chancellor’s Lecture: A Life of Crime

Simon McDonald Interviewed by Nick Higham

Leadership: Lessons for Running a Better Government

Juliet Davenport, Rupert Read, Simon Sharpe and Gaia Vince Chaired by Stephen Law

Climate Breakdown: Habit, Fear, and Progress

Thomas Hertog

On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking’s Final Theory

Colm Tóibín Interviewed by Richard Ovenden

Bodley Lecture and Award of Bodley Medal: Life and Work

Dan Snow and Alice Loxton

Why History Remains a Big Hit

Roger Highfield and Peter Coveney

Virtual You: How Building Your Digital Twin Will Revolutionise Medicine and Change Your Life

Al Murray

Command: How the Allies Learned to Win the Second World War

Kate Bingham and Tim Hames

The Long Shot: The Inside Story of the Race to Vaccinate Britain

Greta Scacchi Interviewed by Peter Guttridge

An audience with Greta Scacchi

Simon Sebag Montefiore

The World: A Family History

Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Am I Made of Stardust?

Eleanor Catton Interviewed by Alex Preston

Birnam Wood

Tim Harford

The Truth Detective

Thomas Simpson and Alice Sherwood Chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate. Trust, Corruption, and Politicians

Isabel Wilkerson

American Lecture. Caste: Exposing America’s Invisible Scaffolding

Martin Wolf Interviewed by Gillian Tett

The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism and How to Fix It

Rob Biddulph

Draw with Rob

Robin Stevens

Ministry of Unladylike Activity

Peter Frankopan Interviewed by David Isaac

Provost of Worcester College Lecture. The Earth Transformed: An Untold History

Adam Rutherford and Matthew Cobb

Genetic Control: A Fantastic Opportunity or a Dark Future