Jewish And Hebrew Programme

Rüdiger Görner

In the Future of Yesterday: A| Life of Stefan Zweig
Bodleian: Convocation House 2:00pm Wed 2 Wednesday, 2 April 2025 See this event
Andrew Robinson

Einstein in Oxford
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Wed 2 Wednesday, 2 April 2025 See this event
Rachel Shabi

Off-White: The Truth about Antisemitism
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Wed 2 Wednesday, 2 April 2025 See this event
Motti Golani

Chaim Weizmann: A Biography
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Thu 3 Thursday, 3 April 2025 See this event
Anthony Julius

Abraham: The First Jew
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Thu 3 Thursday, 3 April 2025 See this event
César Merchan-Hamann

Jewish Languages and Book Culture
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Fri 4 Friday, 4 April 2025 See this event
Juliet Carey and Abigail Green

Jewish Country Houses CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Fri 4 Friday, 4 April 2025 See this event

Festival information:

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.

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.

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.

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 night in Oxford was the most beautiful event I have ever done. Not just the spectacular setting (of the Sheldonian), but an unforgettable evening.

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.