Politics

Francis Fukuyama

Liberalism and its Discontents SOLD OUT
Trinity College, Levene Building: Auditorium 7:00pm Mon 21 Monday, 21 March 2022 See this event
Nicholas Janni

Leader as Healer: A New Paradigm for 21st Century Leadership
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Sat 26 Saturday, 26 March 2022 See this event
Peter Ricketts

Hard Choices: What Britain Does Next
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Ivan Gibbons

Partition: How and Why Ireland was Divided SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Joe Zammit-Lucia Interviewed by John Kay

The New Political Capitalism: How Businesses and Societies Can Thrive in a Deeply Politicised World
Bodleian: Divinity School 4:00pm Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
David Owen Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Riddle, Mystery, and Enigma: Two Hundred Years of Britain-Russian Relations SOLD OUT
Trinity College 6:00pm Mon 28 Monday, 28 March 2022 See this event
Joe Mulhall and Paul Mason Interviewed by Gwenan Edwards

Rise of the Far Right: How do we Halt Fascism?
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Mon 28 Monday, 28 March 2022 See this event
Jonathan Sumption Interviewed by David Runciman

Law in a Time of Crisis SOLD OUT
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Tue 29 Tuesday, 29 March 2022 See this event
Elijah Lawal, Gary Younge and Alex von Tunzelmann Chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate: Toppling Statues and Fallen Idols
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Tue 29 Tuesday, 29 March 2022 See this event
David Runciman

Confronting Leviathan: A History of Ideas
Bodleian: Divinity School 4:00pm Tue 29 Tuesday, 29 March 2022 See this event
Nigel Ashton

False Prophets: British Leaders’ Fateful Fascination with the Middle East from Suez to Syria
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Wed 30 Wednesday, 30 March 2022 See this event
Ed Miliband

The Provost of Worcester College Lecture. Go Big: 20 Bold Solutions to Fix our World
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Norman Scott Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

An Accidental Icon: How I Dodged a Bullet, Spoke Truth to Power and Lived to Tell the Tale
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Peter Hain Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

A Pretoria Boy: The Story of South Africa’s Public Enemy Number One
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
Martin Sixsmith

Voices of Europe. The War Of Nerves: Inside the Cold War Mind
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
John Crace

A Farewell to Calm: The New Normal Survival Guide
Bodleian: Divinity School 6:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
Gideon Rachman

The Age of the Strongman: How the Cult of the Leader Threatens Democracy SOLD OUT
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 2 Saturday, 2 April 2022 See this event
Mariana Mazzucato Introduced by Martin Sandbu

Voices of Europe. Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Sat 2 Saturday, 2 April 2022 See this event
John Kampfner Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Voices of Europe. Why the Germans do it Better: Notes from a Grown-up Country SOLD OUT
Lincoln College 4:00pm Sat 2 Saturday, 2 April 2022 See this event
Tom Tugendhat Interviewed by Alec Russell

FT Weekend Lecture: Britain, the Conservative Party and the World
Sheldonian Theatre 6:30pm Sat 2 Saturday, 2 April 2022 See this event
Jess Phillips Interviewed by Nick Higham

Everything you Really need to Know about Politics: My Life as an MP SOLD OUT
Randolph Hotel: Ballroom 12:00pm Sun 3 Sunday, 3 April 2022 See this event
Chris Patten Interviewed by Rana Mitter

Hong Kong Diaries
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Fri 16 Friday, 16 September 2022 See this event

Festival information:

The Oxford Literary Festival is intellectual Viagra.

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

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.

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 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.