Recently Added

Francis Fukuyama

Liberalism and its Discontents SOLD OUT
Trinity College, Levene Building: Auditorium 7:00pm Mon 21 Monday, 21 March 2022 See this event
Paul Quarrie Introduced by Henry Woudhuysen

Lincoln College Lecture: A life in Manuscripts, Books and Libraries
Lincoln College 2:00pm Fri 25 Friday, 25 March 2022 See this event
M G Leonard and Sam Sedgman

Climb Aboard the Solar Express CANCELLED
Blackwell’s bookshop 12:00pm Sat 26 Saturday, 26 March 2022 See this event
James Currey, Claude Joseph, Onyeka Nwelue and Nkiru. Njoku Chaired by Dan Hicks

African and Caribbean Voices
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 26 Saturday, 26 March 2022 See this event
James Crowden and Tom Oliver

Cider Country: How an Ancient Craft Became a Way of Life
Exeter: Rector’s Lodgings 12:00pm Sat 26 Saturday, 26 March 2022 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Children’s Stories: A Family Walking Tour
Weston Library 1:00pm Sat 26 Saturday, 26 March 2022 See this event
Rebecca Abrams

Jewish Treasures from Oxford Libraries CANCELLED
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Keiran Goddard and Caelainn Hogan Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

The Passenger Ireland CANCELLED
St Cross College 10:00am Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Ben Okri Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Every Leaf a Hallelujah
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Myles McLeod and Greg McLeod

Create your own Knight’s Tale
Blackwell’s bookshop 12:00pm Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Children’s Stories: A Family Walking Tour
Weston Library 1:00pm Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Salley Vickers Interviewed by Triona Adams

The Gardener
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Mon 28 Monday, 28 March 2022 See this event
Bodleian Libraries

Old School Tours
5:30pm Mon 28 Monday, 28 March 2022 See this event
John Bell, Andrew Pollard, Sarah Gilbert, Teresa Lambe and Catherine Green Chaired by Nick Higham

The Race Against the Virus: A Tribute to the Oxford Vaccine Team
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Mon 28 Monday, 28 March 2022 See this event
Onjali Q Raúf

The Boy at the Back of the Class
Sheldonian Theatre 1:00pm Tue 29 Tuesday, 29 March 2022 See this event
Bodleian Libraries

Old School Tours
5:30pm Tue 29 Tuesday, 29 March 2022 See this event
Stephen Law

How to think about Weird Things
St Cross College 10:00am Wed 30 Wednesday, 30 March 2022 See this event
Bodleian Libraries

Typesetting and Printing on the Hand-press SOLD OUT
Bodleian: Schola Musicae 2:00pm Wed 30 Wednesday, 30 March 2022 See this event
Ian McEwan, Karen Leeder and Laurence Laluyaux Introduced by Richard Ovenden

The Gift of Translation CANCELLED
Sheldonian Theatre 2:00pm Wed 30 Wednesday, 30 March 2022 See this event
Mark Ford, Lyndall Gordon, Jason Harding, Hannah Sullivan and Geoffrey Streatfeild

T. S. Eliot: A Celebration of his Life, Work, and Legacy, and of the T.S. Eliot Foundation and Prize
Bodleian: Divinity School 2:00pm Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Joanne Harris and Kevin Crossley-Holland Chaired by Suzi Feay

Fairy Tales and Myths: Lessons in Life
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
Jonathan Brent Interviewed by Richard Ovenden

The Jewish Archives of Lithuania
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
George Carey

Festival Evensong
Pusey House: Chapel 6:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
Catriona Kelly, Stefanie Halpern and César Merchan-Hamann

Jewish Children’s Books from Russia and Eastern Europe: a Masterclass
Weston Library: Bahari Room 11:00am Sat 2 Saturday, 2 April 2022 See this event
Tom Symington

Symington Wine and Port SOLD OUT
Exeter: Rector’s Lodgings 12:00pm Sat 2 Saturday, 2 April 2022 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Children’s Stories: A Family Walking Tour
Weston Library 1:00pm Sat 2 Saturday, 2 April 2022 See this event
Robin Lane Fox Interviewed by Jane Owen

How to Write about Gardening: Fifty Years and More
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 2 Saturday, 2 April 2022 See this event
Gill Lewis

Animals, Adventure and Activism CANCELLED
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
Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo and Leslye Obiora Interviewed by Stephen Embleton

Life and Work and A Million Bullets and a Rose
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Sun 3 Sunday, 3 April 2022 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Children’s Stories: A Family Walking Tour
Weston Library 1:00pm Sun 3 Sunday, 3 April 2022 See this event
Hannah Chuwku and Nicola Williams Chaired by Fliss Gush

On the Same Page: The Writer-Editor Relationship
Lincoln College 2:00pm Sun 3 Sunday, 3 April 2022 See this event
Joanna Cannon and Dave Housley Interviewed by Rose Solari

A Tidy Ending and The Other Ones
Bodleian: Divinity School 4:00pm Sun 3 Sunday, 3 April 2022 See this event
Christopher Lloyd

It’s Up to Us: A Children’s Terra Carta for Nature, People and the Planet
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 3 Sunday, 3 April 2022 See this event

Festival information:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.