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Ade-adepitan-by-iwphotographic-4-(2) — Ade Adepitan

Ade’s Amazing Ade-ventures

Ade Adepitan

Saturday, 6 April 2019

2:00pm

1 day

Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre

£8

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Meet Paralympian and television presenter Ade Adepitan and hear about his exciting new book, Ade’s Amazing Ade-ventures: Battle of Cyborg Cat, inspired by his own experience of moving to London from Nigeria. Find out how he adapted to life in a new country and explore all the amazing things he has done since then from the Paralympics to travelling the world.

Adepitan has led a remarkable life, from growing up in Nigeria with a disability, to developing his passion for sport, and becoming a Paralympic medal winner, commentator and successful television presenter. He received an MBE in 2005 for services to disability sport. Here he talks to powerlifting world record holder and multiple world champion Manon Bradley

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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