Voices Of Europe

Jacques and Alina Peretti Interviewed by Lucian Hudson

Voices of Europe. Little Bird of Auschwitz: How My Mother Escaped Death and Found our Family
Bodleian: Divinity School 2:00pm Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Lea Ypi and Pieter Waterdrinker Chaired by Boyd Tonkin

Voices of Europe. Living Through History: The Turbulent End of Communism SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Bruce Clark

Voices of Europe. Athens: City of Wisdom
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Mon 28 Monday, 28 March 2022 See this event
Marit Kapla Interviewed by Gwenan Edwards

Voices of Europe. Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Wed 30 Wednesday, 30 March 2022 See this event
Valérie Perrin

Voices of Europe: Fresh Water for Flowers and Three CANCELLED
Bodleian: Divinity School 2:00pm Wed 30 Wednesday, 30 March 2022 See this event
Geert Mak Interviewed by Gwenan Edwards

Voices of Europe: The Dream of Europe
Bodleian: Divinity School 6:00pm Wed 30 Wednesday, 30 March 2022 See this event
Sjoerd Levelt and Ad Putter

Voices of Europe. North Sea Crossings: The Literary Heritage of Anglo-Dutch Relations 1066–1688
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Antonio Munoz Molina Interviewed by Boyd Tonkin

Voices of Europe. To Walk Alone in the Crowd CANCELLED
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Philipp Ther

Voices of Europe. The Outsiders: Refugees in Europe since 1492
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Jaap Robben

Voices of Europe: Summer Brother CANCELLED
Lincoln College 10:00am 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
Christopher de Bellaigue Interviewed by Lucian Hudson

Voices of Europe. The Lion House: The Coming of a King
Lincoln College 4:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 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

Festival information:

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.