Religion

John Barton

The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Companion
Bodleian: Divinity School 2:00pm Mon 28 Monday, 28 March 2022 See this event
Brian Mountford Interviewed by Angela Tilby

Church Going Gone – A Biography of Religion, Doubt and Faith
Bodleian: Divinity School 10:00am Tue 29 Tuesday, 29 March 2022 See this event
Harry Freedman

Leonard Cohen: The Mystical Roots of Genius
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm 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
George Carey Interviewed by Angela Tilby

The Truth Will Set You Free: Memoirs Continued
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Alister McGrath, David Papineau and Christopher French Chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate: Scientism, Religion, and the Limits of Reason
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Fitzroy Morrissey

A Short History of Islamic CANCELLED
St Cross College 10:00am Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
Jeremy Morris

A People’s Church: A History of the Church of England
St Cross College 12:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
Rebecca Abrams

Made in Medieval England: the Church, the Jews and the Forging of English Antisemitism
Bodleian: Divinity School 2:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
Robin Dunbar

How Religion Evolved and Why it Endures
Lincoln College 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

Festival information:

The Oxford Literary Festival is intellectual Viagra.

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.

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.

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.

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.