April 3 | Oxford Literary Festival

Alan Rusbridger Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
A N Wilson Interviewed by Paula Byrne

Aftershocks
St Cross College 10:00am Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Katrin Kohl and Matthew Reynolds Chaired by Samuel Fanous

Babel: Adventures in Translation
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Armand D’Angour

Socrates in Love: The Making of a Philosopher
Bodleian: Divinity School 10:00am Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Worcester College

Worcester College Library Tour
Worcester College 11:00am Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Jane Rogers

Reading Round: A No-Homework Reading Workshop
St Cross College: Seminar Room 11:30am Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Ranulph Fiennes Interviewed by Rupert Lancaster

An Audience with Ranulph Fiennes
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Jamie Camplin

Books Do Furnish A Painting
St Cross College 12:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Christopher Andrew

The Secret World: A History of Intelligence SOLD OUT
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Anna Marie Roos

Martin Lister and his Remarkable Daughters: The Art of Science in the 17th Century
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Matt Hern and Am Johal

Global Warming and The Sweetness Of Life: A Tar Sands Tale
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Dominic Wilkinson and Julian Savulescu

Ethics, Conflict and Medical Treatment for Children
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Anthony Arnull

EU Law: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 1:15pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Alastair Lack

Literary Oxford with Alastair Lack SOLD OUT
Meet outside St John’s College Lodge (main entrance), St Giles 2:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Julian Baggini

How the World Thinks
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Robert Irwin

Ibn Khaldun: An Intellectual Biography
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Bryan Sykes

The Wolf Within: A Genetic History of Man’s Best Friend
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Josh Cohen

Not Working: Why We Have to Stop
Bodleian: Divinity School 2:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Olga Grjasnowa and Selja Ahava Chaired by Boyd Tonkin

Voices of Europe 1
St Cross College 2:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Bodleian Libraries

Typesetting and Printing on the Hand-press
Bodleian: Schola Musicae 2:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Mary Beard Interviewed by Brooke Masters

Women and Power: A Manifesto SOLD OUT
Sheldonian Theatre 2:15pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Tim Pears

Reading Round: A No-Homework Reading Workshop SOLD OUT
St Cross College: Seminar Room 2:30pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Worcester College

Worcester College Library Tour
Worcester College 3:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Jim Ring

How the Navy Won the War
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Lisa Appignanesi

Everyday Madness: On Grief, Anger, Loss and Love
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Jacek Dehnel, Piotr Tarczynski and Jasmin B Frelih Chaired by Boyd Tonkin

Voices of Europe 2
St Cross College 4:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Katherine Ormerod and Julian Baggini Chaired by Stephen Law

The Oxford Debates: Is Social Media Ruining our Lives?
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Cara Hunter Interviewed by Peter Guttridge

Lincoln College Lecture. No Way Out: Launch Event
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 4:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Diarmaid MacCulloch Interviewed by Mary Beard

British Academy Lecture. Thomas Cromwell: A Life
Sheldonian Theatre 4:15pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Jane Draycott

Reading Round: A No-Homework Reading Workshop SOLD OUT
St Cross College: Seminar Room 4:30pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Kirsten Shepherd-Barr

Modern Drama: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 5:15pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Heather Widdows

Perfect Me: Beauty as an Ethical Ideal
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Kazuo Ishiguro Interviewed by Richard Ovenden

Bodley Lecture and Award of Bodley Medal SOLD OUT
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Tim Marshall

Divided: Why We’re Living in an Age of Walls
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
David Barrie

Incredible Journeys: How Animals Great and Small Find their Way
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Jane Thynne, Nicolette Jones, David Grylls and Peter Kemp Chaired by James Walton

Festival Literary Quiz
Randolph Hotel: Ballroom 7:30pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event

Festival information:

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.

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.

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

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 Oxford Literary Festival is intellectual Viagra.

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.

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.

I loved the whole atmosphere of the Oxford Literary Festival. From breakfast, alongside some of the attendees, who were talking books with each other a mile a minute, to the public event at The Sheldonian where everyone was lively and engaged – I felt I had arrived in a kind of literary heaven.

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