Literature | Oxford Literary Festival

Jenny Hartley

Charles Dickens: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 1:15pm Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 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 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Matthew Sturgis

Oscar: A Life
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Suzanna Crampton

Bodacious: The Shepherd Cat
St Cross College 12:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Catherine McIlwaine

Stepping into Tolkien’s Study
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Robert Daws

Wodehouse in Wonderland by William Humble
Randolph Hotel: Ballroom 4:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Marcus du Sautoy

The Creativity Code: How AI is Learning to Write, Paint and Think
Sheldonian Theatre 5:00pm Mon 1 Monday, 1 April 2019 See this event
Richard Harries Interviewed by John Carey

Haunted by Christ: Modern writers and the Struggle for Faith SOLD OUT
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Tue 2 Tuesday, 2 April 2019 See this event
Aatish Taseer Interviewed by Boyd Tonkin

The Twice-Born: Life and Death on the Ganges
St Cross College 2:00pm Tue 2 Tuesday, 2 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Boyd Tonkin and Elena Lappin

Crossing Borders in Literature and Language
St Cross College 12:00pm Thu 4 Thursday, 4 April 2019 See this event
Alastair Lack

The Oxford of Morse, Lewis and Endeavour SOLD OUT
Meet outside St John’s College Lodge (main entrance), St Giles 2:00pm Thu 4 Thursday, 4 April 2019 See this event
Michael Rosen

Socialist Tales: Workers’ Tales and Reading and Rebellion SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Thu 4 Thursday, 4 April 2019 See this event
Ritchie Robertson

Goethe: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 5:15pm Fri 5 Friday, 5 April 2019 See this event
Ma Jian Interviewed by Flora Drew

China Lecture: China Dream
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Fri 5 Friday, 5 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
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
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
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
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
Emma Smith

This is Shakespeare SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 7 Sunday, 7 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 is intellectual Viagra.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Oxford University Images

Alumni Office

Olive oil from Sicily

Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design

Local radio partner