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:

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.