Schools programme

The festival supports major events in state schools across Oxford. We are working with four schools to line up accessible, mind-expanding and inspiring sessions involving world-class authors and thinkers. The schools involved will also receive free tickets to Oxford Literary Festival events and can participate in the main festival through work experience, interviewing and more.

Oxford Academy School

Oxford Academy is based in Blackbird Leys, East Oxford. Their festival programme has a full day of events on Monday 31 March, including the following.

Marlene Tara Watson. Vegan cookery session with the chef and author of Go Vegan: A Guide to Delicious Everyday Food.

Paterson Joseph. Joseph, an actor, writer and Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, talks about his historical novel, The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho, based on the true story of the man born on a slave ship who went on to be a writer, leading abolitionist and the first Black Briton known to have voted in an election.

Karim Khan, an Oxford-based writer, and playwright whose work includes an episode of All Creatures Great and Small, talks about his work.

Deborah Hyde, a television and film production manager and former editor of The Skeptic Magazine, talks about her approach to investigating the paranormal.

Stephen Law, philosopher and organiser of the festival’s schools programme, asks whether a machine could think.

Jasbinder Bilan, the Costa Award-winning author, talks to year 7s about her new novel, Nush and the Stolen Emerald.

The Swan School

The Swan School is an academy in the River Learning Trust and is based in Marston.

Rob Eastaway. Much Ado About Numbers, a talk about the connection between mathematics and Shakespeare and the often-surprising way the subject crops up in his plays.

Greyfriars Catholic School

Greyfriars School in East Oxford will host a series of festival events for pupils during March including the following.

Neil Cameron, children’s cartoonist, creator of the Mega Robo Bros graphic novel series, author of the Awesome Robot Chronicles novel series, and regular contributor to UK weekly children's comic The Phoenix, will talk to pupils about his art.

Josie Jaffrey, a fantasy and historical fiction author, will talk about fantasy world building.

Deborah Hyde, a television and film production manager and former editor of The Skeptic Magazine, talks about her approach to investigating the paranormal.

Stephen Law, philosopher and organiser of the festival’s schools programme, asks whether a machine could think.

Marlene Tara Watson. Vegan cookery session with the chef and author of Go Vegan: A Guide to Delicious Everyday Food.

Marlene Tara Watson. The Power of Food for Family Health. A parents evening event.

Paterson Joseph. Joseph, an actor, writer and Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, talks about his historical novel, The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho, based on the true story of the man born on a slave ship who went on to be a writer, leading abolitionist and the first Black Briton known to have voted in an election.

Cherwell School

Cherwell School is based in North Oxford. The festival is providing pupils with tickets to events in the main programme.

10 Year 12 students will design and produce a magazine for print and web release to follow the 2025 festival. They would like to use the experience of ‘shadowing’ the festival as potential experience to then create their own Cherwell Literary Festival event in autumn 2025. They will receive interview training and will interview several festival speakers.