Rearranged events

Alexander McCall Smith

A Celebration of A Writing Life and Honorary Fellowship
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Wed 6 Oct Wednesday, 6 October 2021 See this event
Helen Taylor

Why Women Read Fiction: The Stories of our Lives
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 30 Oct Saturday, 30 October 2021 See this event
Jenny Goodman

Staying Alive in Toxic Times: A Seasonal Guide to Lifelong Health
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 30 Oct Saturday, 30 October 2021 See this event
Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper Chaired by Matthew Stadlen

Changing the World: The Women of Westminster and Great Women Speakers SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 30 Oct Saturday, 30 October 2021 See this event
Maggie Aderin-Pocock Introduced by Bridget Holligan

An Interactive Tour of Space
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sun 7 Nov Sunday, 7 November 2021 See this event
Arthur Miller

Machines that Make Art, Improvise Music and Write Film Scripts
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sun 7 Nov Sunday, 7 November 2021 See this event
Chris Packham Interviewed by Philip Lymbery

Peter Roberts Compassion in World Farming Lecture
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Sun 7 Nov Sunday, 7 November 2021 See this event
Iain MacGregor Interviewed by Michael Crick

Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth SOLD OUT
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 7 Nov Sunday, 7 November 2021 See this event
Julia Neuberger Interviewed by Nick Higham

Antisemitism: What It Is. What It Isn’t. Why It Matters
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Sun 7 Nov Sunday, 7 November 2021 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.