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Saturday 23 March

Bill Tara

How to Eat Right and Save the Planet: A Plant-Based Survival Guide
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Greg Jenner

Totally Chaotic History: Ancient Egypt Gets Unruly
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 1 10:00am Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Benji Davies

The Great Storm Whale
Pusey House: Chapel 10:00am Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Nathan Hill talks to Suzi Feay

Wellness
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 10:00am Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Jocelyn Bell Burnell talks to Nuala McGovern

BBC World Service. Forward Thinking: Why We Need More Diversity in Space
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 10:45am Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Miles Johnson talks to Matthew Stadlen

Chasing Shadows: A True Story of Drugs, War and the Secret World of International Crime
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Javier Cercas talks to Boyd Tonkin

Life and Work: Exploring a Difficult History
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 12:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Marlene Watson-Tara

Go Vegan: A Guide to Delicious Everyday Food
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Joanne Harris interviewed by Nick Higham

A Writing Life
Pusey House: Chapel 12:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig chaired by Martin Wolf

The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What to do about it
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 1 12:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Hilary Bradt interviewed by Kate Humble

Taking the Risk: My Adventures in Travel and Publishing
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 2 12:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Nii Ayikwei Parkes and Peace Adzo Medie chaired by Suzi Feay

Azúcar and Nightbloom
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Bodleian Guides

Literary Oxford with the Bodleian
Weston Library Steps 1:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Nichole Fazio

The Julia Margaret Cameron Collection CANCELLED
Weston Library: Bahari Room 1:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Gary Francione and Ron Weiss talks to Nuala McGovern

BBC World Service. Forward Thinking: Can Veganism Feed the World? (and Save the Planet in the Process)
Worcester College: Lecture Theatre 1:45pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Jennifer Carlson

Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Felix Flicker

The Magick of Matter: Crystals, Chaos and the Wizardry of Physics
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Sophia Jansson Matthew Stadlen

Tove Jansson and the Moomins: A Celebration of Imagination and Writing SOLD OUT
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Alastair Lack

Literary Oxford with Alastair Lack SOLD OUT
Meet outside St John’s College Lodge (main entrance), St Giles 2:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Robert Henderson

Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family and Social Class
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 2:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Bryony Gordon interviewed by Suzi Feay

Mad Woman: Older. Madder. Wiser?
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 1 2:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Dieter Helm and David Stainforth Stephen Law

Oxford Debate. Our Climate Future and the Sustainable Economy
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 2 2:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Yuval Zommer

The Wild
Weston Library: Blackwell Hall 2:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Bodleian Libraries

Chaucer Here and Now SOLD OUT
Weston Library: Blackwell Hall 2:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Pepe Karmel

Looking at Picasso
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Robin Lane Fox

Homer and His Iliad SOLD OUT
Lincoln College: Oakeshott Room 4:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Emily Hund

The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Larisa Brown and Jamal Barak chaired by Nick Higham

The Gardener of Lashkar Gah: The Afghans who Risked Everything to Fight the Taliban
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Maureen Freely talks to Matthew Stadlen

My Blue Peninsula
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 2 4:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Vicente Luis Mora interviewed by A K Blakemore

Centroeuropa
Pusey House: Chapel 4:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
T Colin Campbell in conversation with Ron Weiss

The Future of Nutrition: Why We Keep Getting It Wrong, and How to Start Getting It Right
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 1 4:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Teun Toebes

The Housemates: Learning about Love, Care and Dementia from Living in a Nursing Home
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Jessica Rawson interviewed by Neil MacGregor

Life and Afterlife in Ancient China
Pusey House: Chapel 6:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Richard Reeves

Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What To Do About It
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Gary Francione and Anna Charlton

Eat Like You Care: An Examination of the Morality of Eating Animals
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Greg Mosse and Kate Mosse interviewed by Nick Higham

Sharing the Love of Writing
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 1 6:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Shamim Sarif

Polarized: Same Town. Different Worlds
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 2 6:00pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 March 2024 See this event
Festival Dinner

Closing Dinner SOLD OUT
Exeter College: Hall 7:30pm Sat 23 Saturday, 23 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 Oxford Literary Festival is intellectual Viagra.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.