Children & Young People | Oxford Literary Festival

Gill Lewis Interviewed by Damian Kelleher

The Closest Thing to Flying
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Harry Potter

Celebrating the Harry Potter books
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Christopher Lloyd

Best Moments in British History
Bodleian Weston Library: Blackwell Hall 10:00am Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Yuval Zommer and Charlotte Guillain

The Skies Above My Eyes
Story Museum: Story Exchange 11:00am Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Amy Wilson

World Building Workshop
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
David Fickling, Candy Gourlay and Dan Freedman

What Makes a Great Children’s Book?
St Cross College 12:00pm Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Lucy Worsley

Lady Mary: Tales of Tudor Intrigue SOLD OUT
Sheldonian Theatre 2:00pm Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Martin Brown

Lesser Spotted Animals 2
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Chitra Soundar

Stories of India
Story Museum: Story Exchange 2:00pm Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Gelong Thubten

A Monk’s Guide for Young People SOLD OUT
St Cross College 2:00pm Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Christopher Lloyd

Absolutely Everything! A History of Earth, Dinosaurs, Rulers, Robots and Other Things Too Numerous
Bodleian Weston Library: Blackwell Hall 3:30pm Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Maz Evans

Who Let the Gods Out? Greek Mythology as Never Seen Before SOLD OUT
St Cross College 4:00pm Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Antonia Keaney and Percy

Percy at the Palace: A Dog’s Eye View of Blenheim Palace
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 10:00am Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Christopher Lloyd

The Complete Plays of William Shakespeare
Bodleian Weston Library: Blackwell Hall 11:00am Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Jo Cotterill and Cath Howe Chaired by Miranda McKearney

Empathy Workshop: Can Books Make you a Better Person?
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
John Dougherty

Dinosaurs and Dinner-Ladies
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Sophia Bennett, Sofia Karamani, Safia El Dabi and Rachel Noel

The Bigger Picture: Women Who Changed the Art World
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Writing Workshop SOLD OUT
St Cross College 2:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Christopher Lloyd

Absolutely Everything! A History of Earth, Dinosaurs, Rulers, Robots and Other Things Too Numerous
Bodleian Weston Library: Blackwell Hall 2:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Chris Thorogood

Perfectly Peculiar Plants
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Geraldine McCaughrean and Sally Nicholls Chaired by Rebecca Butler

Oxford’s Finest: Writing and Inspiration
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 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
Robin Stevens

Death in the Spotlight
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am 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
David Solomons

Superheroes Special
St Cross College 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
Ade Adepitan

Ade’s Amazing Ade-ventures
Oxford Martin School: 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
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
Benji Davies Interviewed by Nicolette Jones

Creating Children’s Classics
Sheldonian 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
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
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
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
Kristina Stephenson

Sir Charlie Stinky Socks
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 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
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

Festival information:

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

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.

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.

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 Literary Festival is intellectual Viagra.

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.

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 Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

Partner of Oxford Literary Festival

Prestige publishing partner. Celebrating 25 years in Europe in 2024

Accountants to the festival

Oxford International Centre for Publishing

Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection

Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection

Where learning meets opportunity: education partners of the festival

Wines of the Douro Valley

Festival on-site and online bookseller

The Cervantes Institute, London

The Spanish Embassy: supporters of the programme of Spanish literature and culture

Festival ideas partner

Festival cultural partner

Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme

Supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the UK

Festival media partner

Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture

Brasenose College founded in 1512

Founded 1884

Reuben College founded in 2019

Magdalen College founded 1458

Trinity College founded 1555

Lincoln College founded 1427

Worcester College founded 1714

Exeter College: college home of the festival. Founded 1314

New College founded 1379

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