Fiction

Penelope Lively Interviewed by Chris Patten

Chancellor’s Lecture: Life and Work
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2020 See this event
Elleke Boehmer and Naomi Ishiguro

The Art of the Short Story
St Cross College 10:00am Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2020 See this event
Linda Boström Knausgård Interviewed by Boyd Tonkin

Welcome to America
St Cross College 12:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2020 See this event
Yaniv Iczkovits Interviewed by Rebecca Abrams

The Slaughterman’s Daughter: The Avenging of Mende Speismann at the Hands of her Sister CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2020 See this event
Fatima Bhutto Interviewed by Harriett Gilbert

BBC World Service Recording: World Book Club with Fatima Bhutto
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 4:30pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2020 See this event
Edna O’Brien, Aida Edemariam, Sam Lee, Marcus du Sautoy and Aatish Taseer

BBC World Service Recording
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 1:30pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2020 See this event
Mary Costello and Christine Dwyer Hickey Chaired by Triona Adams

Award-winning Irish Writers: The River Capture and The Narrow Land
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2020 See this event
Joanne Harris and David Greenwood-Haigh

Exotic Pleasure: Stories of Chocolate
St Cross College: Dining Hall 4:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2020 See this event
Sebastian Barry, Kevin Barry and Sinéad Morrissey Chaired by Boyd Tonkin

Voice of Ireland
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2020 See this event
Sara Collins Interviewed by Jem Poster

The Confessions of Frannie Langton
St Cross College 12:00pm Mon 30 Monday, 30 March 2020 See this event
Xu Zechen Interviewed by Angus Phillips

China Lecture: Running through Beijing CANCELLED
St Cross College 6:00pm Mon 30 Monday, 30 March 2020 See this event
Clare Carlisle and Kathy O’Shaughnessy

Uncovering the Real George Eliot
St Cross College 4:00pm Tue 31 Tuesday, 31 March 2020 See this event
Trevor Eve Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

An Acting Life and Lomita for Ever
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Tue 31 Tuesday, 31 March 2020 See this event
Maggie O’Farrell Interviewed by Claire Armitstead

Hamnet
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Wed 1 Wednesday, 1 April 2020 See this event
Faith Martin

The English Country Murder Mystery
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Wed 1 Wednesday, 1 April 2020 See this event
Mick Herron and Lucy Atkins

The Art of Intrigue
Bodleian: Divinity School 10:00am Thu 2 Thursday, 2 April 2020 See this event
Pat Barker Interviewed by Richard Ovenden

2020 Bodley Lecture and Award of Bodley Medal: The Silence of the Girls
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Thu 2 Thursday, 2 April 2020 See this event
Janet Ellis and Kirsty Wark Interviewed by Lucy Atkins

How it Was and The House by the Loch
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Fri 3 Friday, 3 April 2020 See this event
Janice Hadlow

The Other Bennet Sister
Bodleian: Divinity School 2:00pm Fri 3 Friday, 3 April 2020 See this event
Helen Taylor

Why Women Read Fiction: The Stories of our Lives
St Cross College 4:00pm Fri 3 Friday, 3 April 2020 See this event
Alexander McCall Smith

A Celebration of A Writing Life and Honorary Fellowship
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Fri 3 Friday, 3 April 2020 See this event
Donna Leon Interviewed by Peter Kemp

Trace Elements
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Fri 3 Friday, 3 April 2020 See this event
Robin Stevens

Murder Most Unladylike
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sat 4 Saturday, 4 April 2020 See this event
Abi Daré and Abbie Greaves Interviewed by Suzi Feay

The Girl with the Louding Voice and The Silent Treatment
St Cross College 10:00am Sat 4 Saturday, 4 April 2020 See this event
Gill Hornby Interviewed by Peter Kemp

Miss Austen
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 4 Saturday, 4 April 2020 See this event
Barney Norris Interviewed by Sophie Ratcliffe

The Vanishing Hours
St Cross College 4:00pm Sat 4 Saturday, 4 April 2020 See this event
Ben Okri Interviewed by Alastair Niven

Prayer for the Living
St Cross College 6:00pm Sat 4 Saturday, 4 April 2020 See this event
Clare Clark and Naomi Wood

Art, Love and Politics in Weimar Germany
St Cross College 10:00am Sun 5 Sunday, 5 April 2020 See this event
Anthony Horowitz

Licence to Thrill
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sun 5 Sunday, 5 April 2020 See this event
Anna Hope Interviewed by Marlene Hauser

Expectation
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Sun 5 Sunday, 5 April 2020 See this event
Sibeal Pounder

Bad Mermaids Meet the Witches
Cohen Quad: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 5 Sunday, 5 April 2020 See this event
Lucy Worsley

The Austen Girls
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Sun 5 Sunday, 5 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 is intellectual Viagra.

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.

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 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.

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

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.