Current Affairs

Rachel Botsman

Who Can You Trust?
Said Business School 11:00am Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2020 See this event
Jonathan Rugman

The Killing in the Consulate: Investigating the Life and Death of Jamal Khashoggi
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2020 See this event
Brenda Hale and Vernon Bogdanor

British Academy Lecture: Is the UK Constitution Fit for Purpose? SOLD OUT
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Mon 30 Monday, 30 March 2020 See this event
Amelia Gentleman Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

The Windrush Betrayal: Exposing the Hostile Environment
St Cross College 12:00pm Tue 31 Tuesday, 31 March 2020 See this event
John Humphrys Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

An Audience with John Humphrys
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Wed 1 Wednesday, 1 April 2020 See this event
Jonathan Sumption

Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Wed 1 Wednesday, 1 April 2020 See this event
Kapil Komireddi

Malevolent Republic: A Short History of the New India
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Thu 2 Thursday, 2 April 2020 See this event
Michael Wood

The Story of China: A Portrait of a Civilisation and a People
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Fri 3 Friday, 3 April 2020 See this event
Anna Fifield Interviewed by Alec Russell

The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 4 Saturday, 4 April 2020 See this event
A C Grayling

The Good State: On the Principles of Democracy
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Sat 4 Saturday, 4 April 2020 See this event
FT Editors

FT Leader Debate
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 4 Saturday, 4 April 2020 See this event
Ken Clarke Interviewed by Robert Shrimsley

FT Weekend Lecture: A Lifetime in Politics
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Sat 4 Saturday, 4 April 2020 See this event

Festival information:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.