April 7 | Oxford Literary Festival

The Life and Legend of Sultan Saladin
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 10:00am Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Thomas Bollyky

Plagues and the Paradox of Progress: Why the World Is Getting Healthier in Worrisome Ways
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Laura Ellen Anderson

Amelia Fang’s Fangtastic Adventures
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Francesca Simon

Horrid Henry: Up, Up and Away! CANCELLED
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Sara-Jane Arbury and Fiona Ross

Roald Dahl’s Rotsome and Repulsant Words
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 10:00am Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2019 CANCELLED
St Cross College 10:00am Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Bart van Es Interviewed by Hannah Beckerman

The Cut Out Girl
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Jenny Lewis and Sue Leigh Chaired by Jem Poster

Epic and Miniature
St Cross College 12:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Josephine Wolff

Cybersecurity: You’ll See This Message When It’s Too Late
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Michael Morpurgo

A Laureate Celebration
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Jess French

How to Help A Hedgehog and Protect a Polar Bear
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 12:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Laura Bates Interviewed by Hannah Beckerman

The Burning
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Nadim Nassar

The Culture of God: The Syrian Jesus
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Jackie Holderness

The Princess Who Hid in a Tree: An Anglo Saxon Story
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Jules Montague Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Lost and Found: Memory, Identity, and Who We Become When We’re No Longer Ourselves SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Kristina Stephenson

Sir Charlie Stinky Socks
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 2:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Philip Salem

Defeating Cancer: Knowledge Alone is not Enough
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Caroline Langrishe, Adrian Lukis, Camilla Pay and Rosie Lomas

An Afternoon with Jane Austen CANCELLED
Randolph Hotel: Ballroom 2:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Alex Reeve and Marlene Hauser Interviewed by Suzi Feay

The House on Half Moon Street and Off-Island
St Cross College 2:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Janina Ramirez

Riddle of the Runes
Sheldonian Theatre 2:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Emma Smith

This is Shakespeare SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Jonathan Fenby

Crucible: Thirteen Months that Forged Our World
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Kevin Crossley-Holland Interviewed by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Between Worlds
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Diane Setterfield and Daisy Johnson Interviewed by Hannah Beckerman

Oxford Novels: Once Upon a River and Everything Under
St Cross College 4:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Joanne Harris Interviewed by Suzi Feay

The Strawberry Thief and Honorary Fellowship of Oxford Literary Festival
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Anna Beer

Patriot or Traitor: The Life and Death of Sir Walter Ralegh
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event
Nick Stadlen Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Life is Wonderful: Mandela’s Unsung Heroes
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 April 2019 See this event

Festival information:

The Oxford Literary Festival is intellectual Viagra.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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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