You are Currently viewing Past Events, Click here to see upcoming 2025 Events

Go to 2025 Events

Thursday 30 March

Peter Heather

Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion
Blackwell’s bookshop 10:00am Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Geoffrey Batchen

Inventing Photography: William Henry Fox Talbot in the Bodleian Library CANCELLED
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Diane Purkiss

English Food: A Social History of England Told Through the Food on Its Tables
Exeter College: Marquee 10:00am Thu 30 Thursday, 30 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
Lulah Ellender and Marc Hamer Chaired by Matthew Stadlen

Finding Home in the Garden: Grounding and Spring Rain
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Tom Gallagher

Europe’s Modern Machiavellis: Arrogance and Deception in 20 Political Leaders CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Matthew Dennison

The Queen: An Example to the Nation
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Simon McDonald Interviewed by Nick Higham

Leadership: Lessons for Running a Better Government
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 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
Toni Kan and Mitterand Okorie Interviewed by SarahBelle Selig

What do we do with a Man like James Currey? CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Literary Oxford with the Bodleian
Weston Library Steps 1:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Graham Boynton

Wild: The Life and Times of Peter Beard
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Dan Stone

The Holocaust: An Unfinished History
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Juliet Davenport, Rupert Read, Simon Sharpe and Gaia Vince Chaired by Stephen Law

Climate Breakdown: Habit, Fear, and Progress
Sheldonian Theatre 2:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Michael Marshall

Edward King: Teacher, Pastor, Bishop, Saint
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Miranda Seymour Interviewed by Suzi Feay

I Used to Live Here Once: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys
Exeter College: Marquee 2:00pm 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
Vicki Ambery-Smith Interviewed by Olivia Horsfall Turner

Jewellery and Silverware: Inspired by Architecture
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Tom Gallagher

Salazar: The Dictator Who Refused to Die CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Tim Marshall

The Future of Geography: How Power and Politics in Space will Change our World SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Thomas Hertog

On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking’s Final Theory
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Edward Stourton Interviewed by Susannah Jowitt

Confessions: Life Re-examined
Exeter College: Marquee 4:00pm 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
Kenan Malik

Not So Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics
Oxford Martin School: Lecture 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
Christine Lindey

Art for All: British Socially Committed Art from World War Two to the Cold War
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Eric Heinze

The Most Human Right: Why Free Speech Is Everything
Exeter College: Marquee 6:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Norma Winstone, John Parricelli, Jeremy Robson and Amy Key

Blue Moon: Music and Words SOLD OUT
Worcester College: Provost’s Lodgings 6:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 2023 See this event
Will Lamb

Candlelit Tour of the University Church SOLD OUT
University Church of St Mary 8:00pm Thu 30 Thursday, 30 March 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.

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.

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.

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.