Current affairs | Oxford Literary Festival

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?
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
Jonathan Sumption

Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics
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

The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un
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

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.

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.

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.

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 is intellectual Viagra.

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

FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

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International radio partner

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Festival cultural partner

Partner of Jewish programme

Supporter of Italian programme

Supporters of the Irish programme

MIT Press. Sponsors of the programme of American literature and culture

Festival London hotel partner

Festival on-site and online bookseller

Festival academic partner

Patron donor for the programme of Irish literature and culture

Worcester College

Lincoln College

11th St Hilda's day at the festival

St Cross College

Woodstock

Woodstock

Alumni Office

Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design

Local radio partner

Regional media partner

Oxford University Images

K T Bruce Photography

Estate agents