African Programme

Samson Kambalu Interviewed by Claire Armitstead

The Jive Talker: Or How to get a British Passport
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Sat 25 Saturday, 25 March 2023 See this event
Ejine Nzeribe, Nwabueze Nwokolo and Sabine Jell-Bahlsen Interviewed by Stephen Embleton

Voice of African Women: The Lake Goddess
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Wed 29 Wednesday, 29 March 2023 See this event
Toni Kan, David Hundeyin and Mitterand Okorie Interviewed by SarahBelle Selig

What do we do with a Man like James Currey?
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Ever Obi, Onyeka Nwelue, Ikenna Okeh and Ivan Sršen

The Immigrant’s Story in Modern Fiction
Trinity College: Garden Room Levine Building 10:00am Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event
Anjan Sundaram, Erroll McDonald and Onyeka Nwelue Chaired by Alexandra Pringle

Promoting African and Caribbean Voices
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event

Festival information:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.