Recently Added

Simon Schama

Foreign Bodies: Pandemics, Vaccines and the Health of Nations
Sheldonian Theatre 6:30pm Mon 22 Monday, 22 May 2023 See this event
Jordan Peterson

Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life SOLD OUT
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Sun 2 Sunday, 2 April 2023 See this event
American dinner

Celebrating the Programme of American Literature and Culture SOLD OUT
Exeter College: Hall 7:15pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Paterson Joseph, Samson Kambalu and Leta McCollough Seletzky Interviewed by Bidisha Mamata

BBC World Service The Arts Hour Recording
Worcester College 2:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Children’s Stories Walking Tour
Weston Library Steps 1:00pm Sat 1 Saturday, 1 April 2023 See this event
Italian Dinner

Celebrating the Programme of Italian Literature and Culture SOLD OUT
Exeter College: Hall 7:15pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 March 2023 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Literary Oxford with the Bodleian
Weston Library Steps 1:00pm Fri 31 Friday, 31 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
Mary Berry Interviewed by James Naughtie

Felicity Bryan Tribute Conversation: Cook and Share
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Tue 28 Tuesday, 28 March 2023 See this event
Tom Symington

Symington Port SOLD OUT
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 4:00pm Tue 28 Tuesday, 28 March 2023 See this event
Peter McCullough Introduced by Triona Adams

To Speake of Tears: A Sermon by John Donne
Lincoln College: Chapel 12:00pm Tue 28 Tuesday, 28 March 2023 See this event
Tom Symington

Symington Wine SOLD OUT
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 12:00pm Tue 28 Tuesday, 28 March 2023 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Literary Oxford with the Bodleian
Weston Library Steps 1:00pm Mon 27 Monday, 27 March 2023 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Children’s Stories Walking Tour
Weston Library Steps 1:00pm Sun 26 Sunday, 26 March 2023 See this event
Georgette Bennett

Religicide: Confronting the Roots of Anti-Religious Violence
Exeter College: Marquee 2:00pm Sat 25 Saturday, 25 March 2023 See this event
Martin O’Neill Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

On Days Like These: My Life in Football
Sheldonian Theatre 2:00pm Sat 25 Saturday, 25 March 2023 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Literary Oxford with the Bodleian
Weston Library Steps 1:00pm Sat 25 Saturday, 25 March 2023 See this event

Festival information:

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.