Very Short Introductions | 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
Gordon Campbell

Garden History: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 1:15pm Mon 1 Monday, 1 April 2019 See this event
Dan Stone

Concentration Camps: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 5:15pm Mon 1 Monday, 1 April 2019 See this event
Laura Marcus

Autobiography: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 1:15pm Tue 2 Tuesday, 2 April 2019 See this event
Mark Davis

Mathematical Finance: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 5:15pm Tue 2 Tuesday, 2 April 2019 See this event
Anthony Arnull

EU Law: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 1:15pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Kirsten Shepherd-Barr

Modern Drama: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 5:15pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Rob Iliffe

Newton: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 1:15pm Thu 4 Thursday, 4 April 2019 See this event
Michael Dunn

Medical Ethics: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 5:15pm Thu 4 Thursday, 4 April 2019 See this event
Belinda Jack

Reading: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 1:15pm Fri 5 Friday, 5 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
Geoff Cottrell

Matter: A Very Short Introduction
Blackwell’s Marquee 1:15pm 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

Festival information:

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

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.

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.

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.

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