April 6 | Oxford Literary Festival

Jem Poster and Sarah Burton

Creative Writing Course: A Sense of Time SOLD OUT
St Cross College 9:30am Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Kate Pankhurst

Fantastically Great Women Who Worked Wonders
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Adam Zamoyski

Napoleon: The Man Behind the Myth
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Robin Stevens

Death in the Spotlight
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Helena Attlee and Rachel Roddy

A Foodwriting Masterclass SOLD OUT
Lincoln College 10:00am Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Merve Emre

What’s Your Type? The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 10:00am Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Lavinia Greenlaw Interviewed by Paula Byrne

The Built Moment and In the City of Love’s Sleep – Poetry and Prose
St Cross College 10:00am Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Andrew Hill and Ruth Nutter

Ruskin Today: How a Victorian Visionary’ can Shape our Future
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Jerry Brotton and Richard Ovenden

Masterclass: The Selden Map of China SOLD OUT
Weston Library: Bahari Room 11:00am Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Liz Fost

Moomin Story and Crafts
Story Museum: Story Exchange 11:00am Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Lewis Dartnell

Origins: How the Earth Made Us
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Claire Harman Interviewed by Claire Armitstead

Murder By The Book: A Sensational Chapter In Victorian Crime
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
David Solomons

Superheroes Special
St Cross College 12:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Cass Sunstein Interviewed by Tim Harford

How Change Happens
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Isabel Thomas

This Book is Not Rubbish
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Roula Khalaf, Neil Buckley and Miranda Green

FT Leader Debate
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Robert Saunders and Richard Ovenden

Masterclass: How Britain Joined Europe: From the Edward Heath Archive SOLD OUT
Weston Library: Bahari Room 1:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Geoff Cottrell

Matter: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 1:15pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 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 Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Ade Adepitan

Ade’s Amazing Ade-ventures
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
JPat Brown and Beryl C D Lipton

Writers under Surveillance: The FBI Files
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Kiran Millwood Hargrave Interviewed by Nikki Gamble

The Way Past Winter
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Val McDermid Interviewed by Nicolette Jones

A Life Of Crime
Sheldonian Theatre 2:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Ali Ansari

These Islands: A Letter to Britain
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Katherine Woodfine and Kate Pankhurst

Rose’s Dress of Dreams CANCELLED
Story Museum: Story Exchange 2:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Ben Arogundade

Fake Views? The Donald Trump Book of Covers — Celebrity, Politics and the Press SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Benji Davies Interviewed by Nicolette Jones

Creating Children’s Classics
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Kirsty Gunn Interviewed by Claire Armitstead

Action Writing: Seeking out and Celebrating the Imagination
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Lauren St John Interviewed by Ben Hoare

Animals, Adventure and Changing the World
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 4:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Tim Richardson

Oxford College Gardens SOLD OUT
St Cross College 4:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Lionel Shriver Interviewed by Suzi Feay

Property: A Collection SOLD OUT
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Tamasin Cave and Isabel Hardman Chaired by Stephen Law

The Oxford Debates. The Lobby and Crony Capitalism CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Ali Ansari

Iran: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 5:15pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Tess Stimson Interviewed by Nicolette Jones

From Adultery to Murder: A Shorter Journey Than You Think
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Venki Ramakrishnan

Gene Machine: The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
William Burns

The Back Channel: American Diplomacy in a Disordered World SOLD OUT
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Zachary Leader

The Life of Saul Bellow: Love and Strife 1965 -2005
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Michael Heseltine Interviewed by Lionel Barber

FT Weekend Lecture. Brexit: Where does Britain go Next?
Sheldonian Theatre 6:30pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event
Alec Russell

Celebrating the Programme of American Literature and Culture
New College: Hall 7:45pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event

Festival information:

A stimulating and rewarding on-stage conversation; a lively informed and tolerant audience; privileged access to the great treasures of the Bodleian, and finally, wonderfully interesting dinner companions to help me conclude the best day I have enjoyed at any festival – anywhere.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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