What not to miss at the FTW Oxford Literary Festival

The FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival takes place from Saturday 25 March to Sunday 2 April. This 26th edition features hundreds of events in venues throughout Oxford city centre, including the Sheldonian Theatre, Worcester College and the Bodleian Library. A vibrant programme for children and young people is also on offer.

A selected list of highlights can be found below. For the full programme, visit oxfordliteraryfestival.org. Tickets are available through the website, from the Blackwell’s festival bookshop, or by calling (+44) 0333 666 3366.

Ravenous: How to Get Ourselves and Our Planet into Shape
Henry Dimbleby, restaurateur and author of the UK’s National Food Strategy, explains why our food system is leading us to planetary disaster and what we can do about it. Introduced by Philip Lymbery.
Saturday 25 March, 10am, Sheldonian Theatre, £7-£12.50

Chatwin, Patagonia, and the Bodleian: Searching for a Nazi
Prominent international lawyer Philippe Sands describes his search for Nazi war criminal Walter Rauff through the Bodleian’s Bruce Chatwin archive. Interviewed by Richard Ovenden
Saturday 25 March, 12pm, Weston Lecture Theatre, £7-£12.50

Putin’s War on Ukraine: Russiaʼs Campaign for Global Counter-Revolution
Samuel Ramani, a leading foreign policy expert and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, examines the motivation behind Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and its long-term implications for the global order.
Saturday 25 March, 6pm, Weston Lecture Theatre, £7-£12.50

Voices of Ireland: Literature, History and Nation
To explore history and modernity in Irish literature, multi-award-winning author John Banville and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas author John Boyne discuss their new books returning to characters from earlier novels, along with Oscar- and Bafta-winner Neil Jordan. Chaired by Claire Armitstead, The Guardian’s associate culture editor. Sunday 26 March, 6pm, Sheldonian Theatre, £7-£15

Irish Voices: Where I End and Nothing Special
Irish authors Sophie White and Nicole Flattery are joined by Triona Adams, the festival’s crime fiction director, to discuss their latest novels and the female voice in Irish literature.
Sunday 26 March, 4pm, Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room, £7-£12.50

Moo’s Law: An Investor’s Guide to the New Agrarian Revolution
Investor Jim Mellon talks about the future of meat production and what needs to be done to kick-start an alternative agrarian future.
Sunday 26 March, 10am, Exeter College: Marquee, £7-£12.50

The Making of the Modern Middle East: A Personal History
Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s international editor, speaks to Mary Hockaday, former controller of BBC World Service, about life as a foreign correspondent and his decades of reporting on the Middle East.
Monday 27 March, 12pm, Sheldonian Theatre, £7-£15

The Power of Art: Stone Will Answer and An Indigo Summer
A meditative reflection on art’s powers of healing with writer and stonemason Beatrice Searle and artist and designer Ellie Orrell. Chaired by David Isaac, Provost of Worcester College.
Monday 27 March, 4pm, Weston Lecture Theatre, £7-£12.50

The Russia Conundrum
Formerly Russia’s richest man, London-based exile Mikhail Khordokovsky discusses life going from the Soviet era into Putin’s Russia, and his view of the political challenges today. Chaired by his co-writer Martin Sixsmith, former BBC Moscow correspondent.
Thursday 28 March, 4pm, Sheldonian Theatre, £7-£15

The Blue Commons: Rescuing the Economy of the Sea
A deep dive into the impact that our exploitative practices are having on the world’s oceans with environmental campaigner and writer Professor Guy Standing.
Tuesday 28 March, 4pm, Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre, £7-£12.50

A Brief History of Black Holes and Why Nearly Everything you know about them is Wrong
Becky Smethurst, an Oxford astrophysicist, reveals the real story behind black holes and the keys they hold to understanding our universe.
Tuesday 28 March, 2pm, Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre, £7-£12.50

Shredded: Inside RBS, The Bank that Broke Britain
Award-winning journalist Ian Fraser tells of the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland and continuing scandals in the banking sector despite the regulatory fixes post-2008.
Wednesday 29 March, 12pm, Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre, £7-£12.50

Poverty and Inequality: The Cost-of-Living Crisis
A discussion of the causes and effects of the cost of living crisis, with businesswoman Juliet Davenport, journalist and broadcaster Gary Younge and the author and journalist Madeleine Bunting. Chaired by Stephen Law.
Wednesday 29 March, 4pm, Exeter College: Marquee

Bodley Lecture and Award of Bodley Medal: Life and Work
Journalist, playwright, poet, lecturer and novelist Colm Tóibín is awarded the Bodleian Library’s highest honour, the Bodley Medal. He discusses his career with Bodley librarian Richard Ovenden
Thursday 30 March, 6pm, Sheldonian Theatre, £7-£15

The Long Shot: The Inside Story of the Race to Vaccinate Britain
Dame Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Covid vaccine taskforce, discusses her experiences of dealing with medical suppliers, the media and politicians both helpful and unhelpful, and how this has shaped her view of outcome-focussd science to solve world problems. In discussion with Dr Tim Hames, formerly of The Times and the University of Oxford.
Friday 31 March, 4pm, Sheldonian Theatre, £7-£15

Homelands: A Personal History of Europe
Timothy Garton-Ash — a journalist and professor of European studies at Oxford — discusses his new book on Europe’s postwar history and uncertain future with Richard Ovenden.
Saturday 1 April, 10am, Weston Lecture Theatre

What they don’t Teach you about Money: a Cost of Living Survival Guide
Claer Barrett, the FT’s consumer editor and Weekend columnist, talks to the FT’s Undercover Economist Tim Harford about practical, money-saving tips to navigate the cost of living crisis as explored in her new book What They Don’t Teach You About Money.
Saturday 1 April, 12pm, Weston Lecture Theatre, £7-£12.50

The Truth Detective
FT columnist Tim Harford introduces his new book The Truth Detective, which shines a light on the importance of truth in a world that can often seem bewildering and an understanding that to be smart about numbers is to be smart about an awful lot else.
Saturday 1 April, 2pm, Sheldonian Theatre, £8

Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK
Simon Kuper, FT journalist and author, shows how the running of modern Britain can be traced back to a small cabal of old Oxonians who exert an outsize influence on public life.
Saturday 1 April, 2pm, Weston Lecture Theatre, £7-£12.50

Mary and Mr Eliot: A Sort of Love Story
Writer and journalist Erica Wagner discusses her new book, which explores the relationship between TS Eliot and Mary Trevelyan through Trevelyan’s vivid diaries and letters, with the FT’s literary editor Frederick Studemann.
Saturday 1 April, 4pm, Weston Lecture Theatre, £7-£12.50

The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism and How to Fix It
What is the relationship between democracy and capitalism? Why is it undergoing its most serious test in decades and why is it important to ensure its survival? Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, discusses his timely new book The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism with Yuan Yang, the FT’s Europe-China correspondent.
Saturday 1 April, 6pm, Sheldonian Theatre, £7-£12.50

On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe Professor of international history Caroline Dodds Pennock inverts the dominant “discovery” narrative to chart the impact that indigenous peoples have had on European society.
Sunday 2 April, 4pm, Bodleian: Divinity School, £7-£12.50

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