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Sam Mills talks to Matt Cook

Uneven: Nine Lives that Redefined Bisexuality
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 29 Saturday, 29 March 2025 See this event
Marc Millon talks to Paul Bloomfield

Italy in a Wineglass: The Taste of Italy with Tasting
Exeter College: Hall 12:00pm Sun 30 Sunday, 30 March 2025 See this event
Susan Barker talks to Lauren Owen

Old Soul
Exeter College: Chapel 4:00pm Sun 30 Sunday, 30 March 2025 See this event
Jasbinder Bilan

Nush and the Stolen Emerald
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Mon 31 Monday, 31 March 2025 See this event
Philip Hoare

William Blake & The Sea Monsters of Love
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Mon 31 Monday, 31 March 2025 See this event
Roisin Dunnett and Francis Spufford chaired by Suzi Feay

Festival Debuts. Raising New Voices: A Line You Have Traced
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Mon 31 Monday, 31 March 2025 See this event
Sumit Paul-Choudhury talks to Matthew Stadlen

The Bright Side: Why Optimists Have the Power to Change the World
Trinity College: Garden Room Levine Building 2:00pm Mon 31 Monday, 31 March 2025 See this event
Matthew Teller talks to Atef Alshaer

Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Tue 1 Tuesday, 1 April 2025 See this event
David Starkey introduced by Nick Higham

A 21st Century Perspective: Our Life and Times Today
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Wed 2 Wednesday, 2 April 2025 See this event
Nona Fernández talks to Josh Weeks

Memory and Truth: Stories from Chile’s Dark Past
Harris Manchester College: Chapel 10:00am Thu 3 Thursday, 3 April 2025 See this event
Malachy Tallack talks to Matthew Stadlen

That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz
Bodleian: Convocation House 12:00pm Thu 3 Thursday, 3 April 2025 See this event
Santiago Roncagliolo talks to Lucy Popescu

Life and Fear in Latin America
Harris Manchester College: Chapel 12:00pm Thu 3 Thursday, 3 April 2025 See this event
Ye Zhaoyan talks to Sarah Franklin

Nanjing 1937: A Love Story CANCELLED
Harris Manchester College: Chapel 2:00pm Thu 3 Thursday, 3 April 2025 See this event
Jo Harkin talks to Matthew Stadlen

The Pretender
Harris Manchester College: Chapel 4:00pm Thu 3 Thursday, 3 April 2025 See this event
Andi Oliver talks to Paterson Joseph

Oxford Brookes Chancellor’s Conversation. The Pepperpot Diaries: Stories From My Caribbean Table
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Thu 3 Thursday, 3 April 2025 See this event
Nathan Robinson and Edward Fishman chaired by Matthew Stadlen

Trump, America and the Future World Order
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Fri 4 Friday, 4 April 2025 See this event
Artemis Cooper, Sue Prideaux and Cal Revely-Calder talks to Miles Young

What Makes a Great Non-fiction Book? And Just Why it Matters. Celebrate with a Free Glass of Champagne
New College: MacGregor Matthews Room 12:00pm Fri 4 Friday, 4 April 2025 See this event
Gary Francione, Anna Charlton, Bill Tara and Marlene Watson-Tara

Why Vegan? Creating a Healthy Future for Human and Non-Human Life
Reuben College 9:30am Sat 5 Saturday, 5 April 2025 See this event
Carlo Greppi talks to Lucian Hudson

A Man of Few Words: The Bricklayer of Auschwitz who Saved Primo Levi
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Sat 5 Saturday, 5 April 2025 See this event
Samantha Shannon in conversation with Kate Dylan

Crafting Immersive Worlds
Pusey House: Chapel 6:00pm Sat 5 Saturday, 5 April 2025 See this event
Funmi Fetto and Jendella Benson chaired by Suzi Feay

Festival Debuts: Hail Mary
Exeter College: Chapel 10:00am Sun 6 Sunday, 6 April 2025 See this event
Henry Bennett

Symington Wines and Ports
Exeter College: Hall 11:30am Sun 6 Sunday, 6 April 2025 See this event
Margarita García Robayo and Juan Sebastián Cárdenas

Voices of Colombia CANCELLED
Exeter College: Chapel 12:00pm Sun 6 Sunday, 6 April 2025 See this event
Constantine Sandis and Sophie Grace Chappell talk to Diarmaid MacCulloch

In Defence of Trans Realities
Sheldonian Theatre 2:00pm Sun 6 Sunday, 6 April 2025 See this event
Janet Todd talks to Suzi Feay

Living with Jane Austen
Exeter College: Chapel 2:00pm Sun 6 Sunday, 6 April 2025 See this event
Henry Bennett

Symington Wines and Ports
Exeter College: Hall 2:00pm Sun 6 Sunday, 6 April 2025 See this event

Festival information:

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.

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 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.

The Oxford festival is the most elegant and atmospheric of literary festivals. It’s a pleasure to both attend and perform there.

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.