Politics | Oxford Literary Festival

George Monbiot

Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Sat 30 Saturday, 30 March 2019 See this event
Mary Robinson Interviewed by Nick Higham

Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Martin Moore and Jamie Susskind Chaired by Ian Goldin

Is Democracy and Freedom Threatened by Technology SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sun 31 Sunday, 31 March 2019 See this event
Robert Winston Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

An Audience with Robert Winston
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Tue 2 Tuesday, 2 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
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
Onora O’Neill Interviewed by Jonathan Derbyshire

Judgement in Ethics and Politics CANCELLED
St Cross College 4:00pm Thu 4 Thursday, 4 April 2019 See this event
Will Caine and Gavin Esler

The Inquiry
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Fri 5 Friday, 5 April 2019 See this event
Jason Cowley Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Reaching for Utopia: Making Sense of an Age of Upheaval
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Fri 5 Friday, 5 April 2019 See this event
David Owen Interviewed by Louise Richardson

Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture. Hubris, Brexit and A Life in Politics
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Fri 5 Friday, 5 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
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
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
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

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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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