Nature

Lars Chittka

The Mind of a Bee SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Sun 17 Sunday, 17 March 2024 See this event
Pia Östlund

Capturing Nature CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 12:00pm Tue 19 Tuesday, 19 March 2024 See this event
Sarah Sands Matthew Stadlen

The Hedgehog Diaries: A Story of Faith, Hope and Bristle
Bodleian: Divinity School 4:00pm Tue 19 Tuesday, 19 March 2024 See this event
Derek Gow

Hunt for the Shadow Wolf
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Tue 19 Tuesday, 19 March 2024 See this event
Nick Penny

Call of the Kingfisher: Bright Sights and Birdsong in a Year by the River
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Fri 22 Friday, 22 March 2024 See this event
Mya-Rose Craig talks to Susannah Jowitt

Birdgirl: Looking to the Skies in Search of a Better Future
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Sun 24 Sunday, 24 March 2024 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.

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 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.

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 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.