French Programme

Anne Berest interviewed by Catriona Seth

The Postcard
Pusey House: Chapel 6:00pm Sat 16 Saturday, 16 March 2024 See this event
Nabila Ramdani talks to Barbara Serra

Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Wed 20 Wednesday, 20 March 2024 See this event
Isabelle Legeron

Natural Wine: An Introduction to Organic and Biodynamic Wines Made Naturally
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 12:00pm Fri 22 Friday, 22 March 2024 See this event
Agnès Poirier talks to Matthew Stadlen

Left Bank: Art, Passion and the Rebirth of Paris 1940-50 SOLD OUT
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 2:00pm Sun 24 Sunday, 24 March 2024 See this event

Festival information:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.