Literature

Alastair Lack

Literary Oxford with Alastair Lack
St John’s College 2:00pm Sat 25 Saturday, 25 March 2023 See this event
Alastair Lack

Oxford Poets with Alastair Lack
St John’s College 2:00pm Sun 26 Sunday, 26 March 2023 See this event
Farah Karim-Cooper and Chris Laoutaris

Shakespeare Past and Present: Perspectives on the Bard
Bodleian: Divinity School 4:00pm Sun 26 Sunday, 26 March 2023 See this event
John Banville, John Boyne and Neil Jordan

Voices of Ireland: Literature, History and Nation
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Sun 26 Sunday, 26 March 2023 See this event
Claire Harman

All Sorts of Lives: Katherine Mansfield and the Art of Risking Everything
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Tue 28 Tuesday, 28 March 2023 See this event
Catherine McIlwaine, John Garth and Stuart Lee Chaired by Grace Khuri

The Great Tales Never End: in Memory of Christopher Tolkien
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Tue 28 Tuesday, 28 March 2023 See this event
Hermione Lee

Tom Stoppard: A Life
Bodleian: Divinity School 2:00pm Tue 28 Tuesday, 28 March 2023 See this event
Jason Whittaker

Jerusalem: Blake, Parry, and the Fight for Englishness
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Tue 28 Tuesday, 28 March 2023 See this event
A N Wilson

Confessions: A Life of Failed promises
Bodleian: Divinity School 6:00pm Tue 28 Tuesday, 28 March 2023 See this event
John Carey

Sunday Best: 80 Great Books from a Lifetime of Reviews
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Wed 29 Wednesday, 29 March 2023 See this event
Marion Turner

The Wife of Bath: A Biography
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Wed 29 Wednesday, 29 March 2023 See this event
Alastair Lack

Literary Oxford with Alastair Lack
St John’s College 2:00pm Wed 29 Wednesday, 29 March 2023 See this event
Paul Clements

Jan Morris: Life from Both Sides
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Wed 29 Wednesday, 29 March 2023 See this event
Harry Mount and John Davie

Et tu, Brute? The Best Latin Lines Ever
Exeter College: Marquee 12:00pm 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
Clare Morgan and Susan Sellers

Conversations Across Time: Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield
Bodleian: Divinity School 6:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event
Judith Robinson and Scott Pack Chaired by Angus Phillips

Literary Cats
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event
Alastair Lack

Literary Oxford with Alastair Lack
St John’s College 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Eleanor Catton Interviewed by Alex Preston

Birnam Wood
Sheldonian Theatre 2:00pm 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
Keiron Pim Interviewed by Rebecca Abrams

Endless Flight: The Life of Joseph Roth
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sun 2 Sunday, 2 April 2023 See this event
Antonio Munoz Molina Interviewed by Boyd Tonkin

To Walk Alone in the Crowd
Bodleian: Divinity School 12:00pm Sun 2 Sunday, 2 April 2023 See this event
Lara Feigel Interviewed by Tessa Hadley

Look! We Have Come Through! Living With D H Lawrence
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 2 Sunday, 2 April 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.