Environment

Jonathan Drori Interviewed by Charles Godfray

Around the World in 80 Trees
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2020 See this event
Dieter Helm and Philip Lymbery

A Blueprint for Rescuing the British Countryside
Cohen Quad: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2020 See this event
Dana Thomas Interviewed by Gwenan Edwards

Fashionopolis: The price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes
Cohen Quad: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2020 See this event
Angus Forbes

Global Planet Authority: How We’re About to Save the Biosphere
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2020 See this event
Natalie Fee

How to Save the World for Free
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2020 See this event
Brigit Strawbridge Howard Interviewed by Gwenan Edwards

Dancing with Bees: A Journey back to Nature
St Cross College 4:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2020 See this event
Toby Young and Rupert Read Chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate. Extinction Rebellion Protests: Were they Justified?
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2020 See this event
Alex Rogers

The Deep: The Hidden Wonders of our Oceans and How we can Protect Them
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Tue 31 Tuesday, 31 March 2020 See this event
Ian Goldin

Terra Incognita: 100 Maps to Survive the Next 100 Years
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Tue 31 Tuesday, 31 March 2020 See this event
Rob Hopkins

From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Wed 1 Wednesday, 1 April 2020 See this event
Errol Fuller

Elephant
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Wed 1 Wednesday, 1 April 2020 See this event
Patrick Curry

Enchantment: Wonder in Modern Life
St Cross College 12:00pm Sat 4 Saturday, 4 April 2020 See this event
Chris Packham Interviewed by Philip Lymbery

Peter Roberts Compassion in World Farming Lecture
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Sun 29 Nov Sunday, 29 November 2020 See this event

Festival information:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 night in Oxford was the most beautiful event I have ever done. Not just the spectacular setting (of the Sheldonian), but an unforgettable evening.