Wellbeing

Josh Cohen

All the Rage: Why Anger Drives the World
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 6:00pm Sat 29 Saturday, 29 March 2025 See this event
Guy Leschziner

Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 30 Sunday, 30 March 2025 See this event
John S Tregoning

Live Forever? A Curious Scientist’s Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death
Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Mon 31 Monday, 31 March 2025 See this event
Dani Robertson

All Through the Night: How Dark Skies Can Save Our World
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Mon 31 Monday, 31 March 2025 See this event
Merijn van de Laar

How to Sleep Like a Caveman: Ancient Wisdom for a Better Night’s Rest
Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Tue 1 Tuesday, 1 April 2025 See this event
Barbara Sahakian and Christelle Langley

Brain Boost: Healthy Habits for a Happier Life
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Tue 1 Tuesday, 1 April 2025 See this event

Festival information:

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.

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 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.