HMC to feature as key venue at Oxford Literary Festival
Harris Manchester College is set to play a key role in this year’s Oxford Literary Festival, which runs from March 29 to April 6. A total of six Festival events will take place in the newly renovated chapel, further confirming its value as cultural venue, in addition to hosting the College’s religious services and ceremonies.
On Saturday 29 March, Oxford-based thriller writer Mick Herron (author of the Slough House novels, the inspiration for the hugely popular Slow Horses television series) will be at the College to speak about his admiration for spy novelist John Le Carré.
Other events at the chapel include Chilean actress and award-winning novelist Nona Fernández in discussion about the themes of historical memory and the haunting legacy of Chile’s political past on Thursday 3 April, and Jo Harkin talking about her new work of historical fiction, Tell me an Ending, also on 3 April.
The College’s involvement in this year’s Festival also extends to events in other venues across Oxford. Principal Jane Shaw is taking part in three events, with HMC Fellows the Rev Professor Alister McGrath and Dr Sarah Ogilvie also giving talks.
The full list of events at HMC is below. For further information and booking, visit the Oxford Literary Festival website.
- Mick Herron (author of Slow Horses) – Saturday 29 March
- Gilbert Achcar – The Arabs and the Holocaust, the Arab-Israeli War of Narratives – Saturday 29 March
- Nona Fermandez – Memory and truth: stories from Chile’s dark past – Thursday 3 April
- Santiago Roncagliolo – Life and fear in Latin America – Thursday 3 April
- Ye Zhaoyan – Nanjing 1937 – Thursday 3 April
- Jo Harkin – The Pretender – Thursday 3 April
Events at other venues featuring the Principal and other HMC Fellows:
- Jane Shaw in conversation with Diarmaid MacCulloch – Lower than the Angels: A history of sex and Christianity – Monday 31 March, the Sheldonian
- Jane Shaw in conversation with Chloe Dalton: Raising Hare: the heart-warming true story of an unlikely friendship – Monday 31 March, Trinity College
- Alister McGrath (Emeritus Fellow of HMC) – Why we believe: understanding ourselves in a complex world – Tuesday 1 April, the Bodleian
- Jane Shaw in conversation with Jessica Hamel-Akre – The art of not eating: a doubtful history of appetite and desire – Tuesday 1 April, Weston Library
- Sarah Ogilvie (Senior Research Fellow at HMC) – The Dictionary People: the unsung heroes who created the Oxford English Dictionary – Friday 4 April, Weston Library
A display of books at HMC featuring in this year's Oxford Literary Festival
