TICKETS are going on sale for 240 author talks at this year’s Oxford Literary Festival.

Once again backed by FT Weekend, the festival will run from Friday, March 27 to Sunday, April 5 and features talks by a large number of acclaimed authors from around the world.

Oxford Mail:

Top authors and speakers include Pat Barker, Penelope Lively, Chris Packham, Ken Clarke, John Humphreys and Lucy Worsley.

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The Sheldonian Theatre will host the most high-profile talks, including those by children’s authors Katherine Rundell and Robin Stevens, food writer and TV presenter Prue Leith, presenter Dermot O’Leary and crime writer Val McDermid.

At the Sheldonian, on Thursday, April 2, at 6pm one of the festival’s showcase events will take place.

Oxford Mail:

The festival website said: “Booker Prize-winning novelist Pat Barker talks about her latest novel The Silence of the Girls, a new take on The Iliad and a story about the cost of wars waged by men, and about her life and work.

“After the event, she will receive the Bodley Medal from Bodley’s Librarian Richard Ovenden – awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the worlds in which the Bodleian is active including literature, culture, science and communication.”

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Ms Barker CBE won 1995 she won the Booker Prize for The Ghost Road in 1995.

Oxford Mail:

On Friday, April 3 Alexander McCall Smith, one of the world’s most prolific novelists will speak about a writing life that has seen him publish more than 80 books.

Oxford Mail:

After the event he will receive the honorary fellowship of the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival.

For more visit oxfordliteraryfestival.org