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Saturday 1 April

Simon Sebag Montefiore Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

The World: A Family History
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Martin Brown

Horrible Histories 30th Anniversary
Exeter College: Marquee 10:00am Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Adam Gopnik Interviewed by Sophie Ratcliffe

The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery
Blackwell’s bookshop 10:00am Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Roy Sebag Interviewed by Paul Yowell

The Natural Order of Money
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 10:00am Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Timothy Garton Ash Interviewed by Richard Ovenden

Homelands: A Personal History of Europe SOLD OUT
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Toby Matthiesen

The Caliph and the Imam: The Making of Sunnism and Shiism
Exeter College: Marquee 12:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Leta McCollough Seletzky

The Kneeling Man: The Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Zoë Coyle and George Carey Chaired by Nick Higham

Where the Light gets In: A Conversation about Assisted Dying
Blackwell’s bookshop 12:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Anthony Sattin

Nomads: The Wanderers who Shaped the World
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Am I Made of Stardust?
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Catherine Lacey Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Biography of X
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 12:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Claer Barrett Interviewed by Tim Harford

What they don’t Teach you about Money: a Cost of Living Survival Guide
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Children’s Stories Walking Tour
Weston Library Steps 1:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Torie Bosch

You Are Not Expected to Understand This: How 26 Lines of Code Changed the World
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Alastair Lack

Literary Oxford with Alastair Lack SOLD OUT
Meet outside St John’s College Lodge (main entrance), St Giles 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Gary Francione Interviewed by Tilda Storey Law

The Meat Paradox
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Eric Collins Interviewed by Matshidiso Mohajane

We Don’t Need Permission: How Black Business can Change our World
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Eleanor Catton Interviewed by Alex Preston

Birnam Wood
Randolph Hotel: Ballroom 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Mini Grey

The Greatest Show on Earth
Exeter College: Marquee 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Tim Harford

The Truth Detective
Sheldonian Theatre 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Simon Kuper

Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK SOLD OUT
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Paterson Joseph, Samson Kambalu and Leta McCollough Seletzky Interviewed by Bidisha Mamata

BBC World Service The Arts Hour Recording
Worcester College 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
John Hosler

Jerusalem Falls: Seven Centuries of War and Peace
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 4:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Thomas Simpson, Alice Sherwood and Marina Purkiss Chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate. Trust, Corruption, and Politicians
Randolph Hotel: Ballroom 4:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Spencer de Grey Introduced by Christopher Le Brun

Royal Academy Lecture. From Stansted Airport to the British Museum: A Life in Architecture
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Stefan Hertmans Interviewed by Max Liu

The Ascent: A House can have Many Secrets
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
S F Said

Tyger
Exeter College: Marquee 4:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Isabel Wilkerson

American Lecture. Caste: Exposing America’s Invisible Scaffolding
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Erica Wagner Interviewed by Frederick Studemann

Mary and Mr Eliot: A Sort of Love Story
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Juan David Morgan

The History of Panama in the Literary Work of Juan David Morgan
Worcester College: Provost’s Lodgings 4:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Rachel Billington and Alex Preston Chaired by Triona Adams

Re-imagining the Past: War Babies and Winchelsea
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 6:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Bleddyn Bowen and Lucas Kello Chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate. The Future of War
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Carlos Fonseca Interviewed by Boyd Tonkin

Colonel Lagrimas and Natural History: A Novel
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Sarah Churchwell Interviewed by Nick Higham

The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the lies America Tells
Exeter College: Marquee 6:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Lily Le Brun Interviewed by Kelly Grovier

Looking to Sea: Britain Through the Eyes of its Artists CANCELLED
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Martin Wolf Interviewed by Yuan Yang

The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism and How to Fix It
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
American dinner

Celebrating the Programme of American Literature and Culture SOLD OUT
Exeter College: Hall 7:15pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event

Festival information:

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 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.

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.

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.

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.