Food And Drink

Bill Tara, Marlene Watson-Tara, Gary Francione, Anna Charlton and Laurence Candy

Exploring the Microbiome: Health from the Inside Out
Pusey House 10:30am Sat 21 Saturday, 21 March 2026 See this event
Tim Spector

Ferment and World-Leading Research on Health and Diet
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Sun 22 Sunday, 22 March 2026 See this event
Steven Parissien

Another Round: A Post-War History of Britain in 12 Strong Drinks
Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
Marlene Watson-Tara and Bill Tara

Macrobiome: How the Planet Governs Human Ecology and the Microbiome
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2026 See this event

Festival information:

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.