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Fiction

Simon Mason and Cara Hunter Chaired by Peter Guttridge

Writing in the Shadow of Morse
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sat 25 Saturday, 25 March 2023 See this event
Val McDermid and Sue Black

The Facts of Fiction: The Author and the Forensic Anthropologist
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Sat 25 Saturday, 25 March 2023 See this event
Cara Hunter, Andrew Thompson and Joey Giddings

Ask the Experts: Everything you Wanted to Know about Crime Investigations SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Sat 25 Saturday, 25 March 2023 See this event
Sally Gardner Interviewed by Suzi Feay

The Weather Woman
Exeter College: Marquee 6:00pm Sat 25 Saturday, 25 March 2023 See this event
Anthony Horowitz Interviewed by Amanda Craig

Thrills and Spills: From the Diamond Brothers to Alex Rider
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sun 26 Sunday, 26 March 2023 See this event
Thomas Mogford

The Plant Hunter
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Sun 26 Sunday, 26 March 2023 See this event
Sophie White and Nicole Flattery Chaired by Triona Adams

Irish Voices: Where I End and Nothing Special
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Sun 26 Sunday, 26 March 2023 See this event
Anthony Horowitz Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

The Twist of a Knife and a Writing Life
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Sun 26 Sunday, 26 March 2023 See this event
John Banville, John Boyne and Neil Jordan Chaired by Claire Armitstead

Voices of Ireland: Literature, History and Nation
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Sun 26 Sunday, 26 March 2023 See this event
Tom Fletcher Interviewed by Peter Guttridge

The Ambassador
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 12:00pm Mon 27 Monday, 27 March 2023 See this event
Jem Poster and Sarah Burton

Writing the Book you Want to Write
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Mon 27 Monday, 27 March 2023 See this event
David Constantine and Ra Page Interviewed by Jem Poster

The Short Story
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Mon 27 Monday, 27 March 2023 See this event
Dan Jones Interviewed by Suzi Feay

Essex Dogs
Exeter College: Marquee 10:00am Wed 29 Wednesday, 29 March 2023 See this event
Miranda Gold and Angela Findlay Chaired by Matthew Stadlen

The Traumatic Inheritance of War
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Wed 29 Wednesday, 29 March 2023 See this event
Mick Herron Interviewed by Chris Patten

Chancellor’s Lecture: A Life of Crime
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Wed 29 Wednesday, 29 March 2023 See this event
Louisa Treger Interviewed by Alexandra Pringle

Mad Woman
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
James Naughtie Interviewed by Peter Guttridge

The Spy Across the Water
Blackwell’s bookshop 2:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Colm Tóibín Interviewed by Richard Ovenden

Bodley Lecture and Award of Bodley Medal: Life and Work
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Rebecca Kuang Interviewed by Angus Phillips

China Lecture: The Poppy Wars and Babel SOLD OUT
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Maxim Osipov Interviewed by Lucian Hudson

Kilometer 101
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event
Paterson Joseph Interviewed by Suzi Feay

The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho
Exeter College: Marquee 12:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event
Viola di Grado Interviewed by Suzi Feay

Blue Hunger
Trinity College: Garden Room Levine Building 2:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event
Alastair Lack

The Oxford of Morse, Lewis and Endeavour SOLD OUT
St John’s College 2:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event
Tom Crewe, Maddie Mortimer, Aidan Cottrell-Boyce and Santanu Bhattacharya Chaired by Matthew Stadlen

New Writers of Fiction
Trinity College: Garden Room Levine Building 4:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event
Clare Morgan and Susan Sellers

Conversations Across Time: Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield SOLD OUT
Blackwell’s bookshop 6:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 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
Catherine Lacey Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Biography of X
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 12:00pm 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
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
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
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
Anthony McGowan

Dogs of the Deadlands
Exeter College: Marquee 10:00am Sun 2 Sunday, 2 April 2023 See this event
Antonio Munoz Molina Interviewed by Boyd Tonkin

To Walk Alone in the Crowd CANCELLED
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Sun 2 Sunday, 2 April 2023 See this event
Robin Stevens

Ministry of Unladylike Activity
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Sun 2 Sunday, 2 April 2023 See this event
Carla Guelfenbein Interviewed by Ian Goldin

My Writing Life
Blackwell’s bookshop 2:00pm Sun 2 Sunday, 2 April 2023 See this event
Lavie Tidhar Interviewed by Lucian Hudson

Maror: Bloody Tale of the Making of a Nation
Exeter College: Marquee 4:00pm Sun 2 Sunday, 2 April 2023 See this event

Festival information:

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.

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 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 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.

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

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.

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.