| Building the digital archive |
A short interview with the project's technical lead, Catherine Conisbee, on building the digital archive. |
Catherine Conisbee |
23 March, 2023 |
|
| Anonymous and Onymous |
A professor of poetry talk by Alice Oswald - Hillary Term 2023 |
Alice Oswald, Lorna Hutson |
27 February, 2023 |
 |
| Meandering Fortune-Graphs |
A professor of poetry talk by Alice Oswald - Michaelmas 2022. |
Alice Oswald |
21 February, 2023 |
|
| A Postcard from Hitler |
The Project Lead, Dr Stuart Lee, discusses his most memorable finds on previous crowdsourcing projects |
Stuart Lee |
8 February, 2023 |
|
| Introducing 'Their Finest Hour' |
A brief introduction by the project team to 'Their Finest Hour' |
Stuart Lee, Matthew Kidd, Joseph Quinn |
23 January, 2023 |
|
| The Life and Death of Poetry |
A distracted walkabout with T.S Eliot and others. |
Alice Oswald |
23 June, 2022 |
|
| A Lament for the Earth |
This episode will address the challenge to nature poetry. |
Alice Oswald |
14 March, 2022 |
|
| In Sleep a King |
This is a sleep-talk on the subject of waking up with Sonnet 87 (by Shakespeare) in the background. This talk was given by Alice Oswald on the 25th November 2021. |
Alice Oswald |
3 March, 2022 |
|
| Fantasy Creatures |
Dr Caroline Batten and Dr Megan Cavell discuss fantastic animals in fantasy text |
Caroline Batten, Megan Cavell |
29 September, 2021 |
|
| Is Jin Yong 'China's Tolkien'? |
A comparison of the Hong Kong author Jin Yong and J. R. R. Tolkien |
Jonathan Hui |
6 September, 2021 |
|
| A Conversation with Katherine Langrish |
Dr Caroline Batten chats with author Katherine Langrish about her book 'From Spare Oom to War Drobe' |
Caroline Batten, Katherine Langrish |
31 August, 2021 |
|
| Faith in fantasy literature |
A short discussion of the role of faith in fantasy literature |
Katherine Olley |
30 July, 2021 |
|
| Brian McClellan |
A discussion of the writer Brian McClellan. |
Katherine Olley |
30 July, 2021 |
|
| Arthur Rackham at Trinity College |
Emma Sillett, Trinity College Librarian, and Dr Caroline Batten explore the Danson Library's collection of rare Arthur Rackham fantasy illustrations. |
Emma Sillett, Caroline Batten |
30 July, 2021 |
|
| C. S. Lewis and 'The Wind in the Willows' |
A discussion of the influence of 'The Wind in the Willows' on fantasy writers - notably C. S. Lewis |
Simon Horobin |
29 July, 2021 |
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| The Last of the Titans |
This talk explores the myth underlying the action in John Wyndham's `The Kraken Wakes'. |
Jane Bliss |
27 July, 2021 |
|
| A Walk around C. S. Lewis's Oxford |
A biographical tour of C. S. Lewis's Oxford |
Simon Horobin |
23 July, 2021 |
|
| William Morris and E. R. Eddison Collections at the Bodleian |
An interview with Rachael Marsay about the William Morris and E. R. Eddison collections at the Bodleian Library |
Rchael Marsay, Stuart Lee |
23 July, 2021 |
|
| Elizabeth Knox |
A discussion of the writer Elizabeth Knox |
Alicia Smith |
22 July, 2021 |
|
| The Saga of Eric the Unlucky |
The Saga of Eric the Unlucky examines Rider Haggard's use of medieval narrative techniques in his novel Eric Brighteyes. |
Jane Bliss |
20 July, 2021 |
|
| Edward Lear and Fantasy |
Jasmine Jagger provides a short introduction to Edward Lear. |
Jasmine Jagger |
18 July, 2021 |
|
| An Interview with Elizabeth Knox |
An Interview with Elizabeth Knox, author of 'The Absolute Book' |
Carolyne Larrington, Elizabeth Knox |
13 July, 2021 |
|
| A Conversation With R. F. Kuang |
Carolyne Larrington and Caroline Batten interview Rebecca F. Kuang. |
R. F. Kuang, Carolyne Larrington, Caroline Batten |
8 July, 2021 |
|
| Werewolves in Medieval Literature vs Modern TV |
A discussion of werewolves in medieval and modern representations. |
Minjie Su |
6 July, 2021 |
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| Desiring Dragons: Creative and Critical Responses to the Dragon in Beowulf |
Laura Varnam discusses dragons in fantasy literature. |
Laura Varnam |
6 July, 2021 |
|
| Morte D'Arthur Murals in the Oxford Union |
A visual discussion of the Morte D'Arthur murals in the library of the Oxford Union. |
Tom Corrick, Caroline Batten |
28 June, 2021 |
|
| Maria Dahvana Headley on Beowulf |
Author Maria Dahvana Headley reads from her 2018 novel The Mere Wife, is interviewed by Prof. Carolyne Larrington, and shares drafts from her 2020 translation of Beowulf. This lecture was recorded live at St John’s College, Oxford in November 2018. |
Carolyne Larrington, Maria Dahvana Headley, David Clark |
25 June, 2021 |
|
| George MacDonald |
An introduction to the Victorian fantasist and fairy tale author George MacDonald, who convinced Lewis Carroll to publish Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, inspired C. S. Lewis' Christian writings, and may even have influenced Tolkien's Elves. |
Caroline Batten, Clare Mulley |
25 June, 2021 |
|
| Old Norse in the New World: The Mythology and Politics of Immigration and Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' |
A talk on Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods'. |
Heather O'Donoghue |
23 June, 2021 |
|
| Discworld - and the Modern University |
A short talk introducing Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels and how they reflect the modern University. |
Andrew Shamel |
22 June, 2021 |
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| Susan Cooper |
A short talk on Susan Cooper. |
Tom Morcom |
22 June, 2021 |
|
| Violet Needham |
Jane Bliss introduces listeners to the work of Violet Needham, a prolific but little-remembered children’s fantasy author, whose book 'The Woods of Windri' draws on the tropes of medieval romances in fascinating ways.ays. |
Jane Bliss |
22 June, 2021 |
|
| Daoxuan and Chinese Fantasy Literature |
A short talk on Daoxuan and medieval Chinese fantasy. |
Nelson Landry |
18 June, 2021 |
|
| Tolkien Archive and Exhibition at Bodleian (Part 2) |
An interview with Catherine McIlwaine on the Tolkien archive at Bodley and the exhibition of 2018 - Part 2 |
Catherine McIlwaine, Stuart Lee |
18 June, 2021 |
|
| Tolkien Archive and Exhibition at Bodleian (Part 1) |
An interview with Catherine McIlwaine on the Tolkien archive at Bodley and the exhibition of 2018 - Part 1. |
Catherine McIlwaine, Stuart Lee |
17 June, 2021 |
|
| What is the 'Silmarillion'? |
This lecture is an introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien's third major work, 'The Silmarillion' (1977), and considers its lengthy development in numerous prose and verse texts over fifty years. |
Grace Khuri |
19 April, 2021 |
|
| Lines by Alice Oswald |
It's fifty years since the publication of From the Life and Songs of the Crow (by Ted Hughes). This is a lecture about lines and other sound barriers and how Crow flies straight through them. |
Alice Oswald |
1 March, 2021 |
|
| The Literature of Absolute War - Transnationalism and WWII |
Professor Nil Santiáñez discusses absolute war, total war, and the literature of WWII with Anders Engberg-Pedersen. |
Anders Engberg-Pedersen, Nil Santiáñez |
17 December, 2020 |
|
| Verse and Prose in Fantasy Literature |
An analysis of two forms that dominate fantasy literature. |
Katherine Olley |
24 November, 2020 |
|
| Guy Gavriel Kay |
A short introduction to the writer Guy Gavriel Kay. |
Katherine Olley |
24 November, 2020 |
|
| Series Two Episode Five: Fairy and Other Transformations |
Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield discuss the theme of transformation through fairy or other kinds of magic. |
Carolyne Larrington, Fay Hield, Lucy Farrell, Inge Thomson, Mary Craig, Sarah Hesketh, Brian McMahon |
22 September, 2020 |
|
| Series Two Episode Four: Fairies and the Environment |
Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield talk about a new theme that emerged in the ‘Modern Fairies’ project, fairies as guardians of the environment. |
Carolyne Larrington, Fay Hield, Ben Nicholls, Inge Thomson, Ewan MacPherson, Sarah Hesketh, Patience Agbabi, Ian McLaughlin, Donald McBride, Brian McMahon |
22 September, 2020 |
|
| Series Two Episode Three: Fairies and Children |
Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield uncover the works inspired by the strange tale of the Green Children and the changeling legend. |
Carolyne Larrington, Fay Hield, Terri Windling, Brian McMahon, Marry Waterson, Patience Agbabi, Martin Carthy |
22 September, 2020 |
|
| Series Two Episode Two: Fairy Time and Space |
Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield explore the ways in which the project artists engaged with the fairy world as parallel and yet distinct from our world, and the ways in which time warps in the other world. |
Carolyne Larrington, Fay Hield, Barney Morse Brown, Ewan MacPherson, Inge Thomson, Marry Waterson |
22 September, 2020 |
|
| Series Two Episode One: Introducing the Modern Fairies Project |
Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield introduce the artists and outcomes of the Modern Fairies Project. |
Carolyne Larrington, Fay Hield |
22 September, 2020 |
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| What Tolkien learnt from 'Beowulf': Representations of Evil |
Monsters and evil in Tolkien |
Rafael J. Pascual |
16 July, 2020 |
|
| Interview with Water |
This is the first ever online lecture by a Professor of Poetry at Oxford. In the lecture, Alice Oswald explores the strange connection between water and grief. |
Alice Oswald |
8 July, 2020 |
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| Sylvia Townsend Warner |
Carolyne Larrington introduces the writing of Sylvia Townsend Warner. |
Carolyne Larrington |
26 May, 2020 |
|
| Ursula K. Le Guin |
A brief introduction to the writer Ursula K. Le Guin. |
Caroline Batten |
13 May, 2020 |
|
| T. H. White |
A brief introduction to the writer T. H. White. |
Gabriel Schenk |
12 May, 2020 |
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| Diana Wynne Jones |
A brief introduction to the writer Diana Wynne Jones. |
Gabriel Schenk |
12 May, 2020 |
|
| Why 'Game of Thrones' Matters |
'Game of Thrones' and storytelling. |
Carolyne Larrington |
12 May, 2020 |
|
| Re-Enchanted: The Rise of Children’s Fantasy Literature in the Twentieth Century |
A guest lecture by Dr Maria Cecire (Bard College) discussing children's fantasy literature. |
Maria Cecire |
12 May, 2020 |
|
| Interview: Catherine Butler |
An Interview with Dr Catherine Butler, author of the book 'Four British Fantasists'. |
Catherine Butler, Will Brockbank |
12 May, 2020 |
|
| Alan Garner |
A brief introduction to the British fantasy writer, Alan Garner. |
Felix Taylor |
12 May, 2020 |
|
| Approaching Fantasy Literature |
A short introduction to reading and studying fantasy literature. |
Stuart Lee |
12 May, 2020 |
|
| H. P. Lovecraft |
A brief introduction to the writer, H. P. Lovecraft. |
Stuart Lee |
12 May, 2020 |
|
| The First World War, India and Empire |
Professor Santanu Das discusses the complexity of commemoration, the messiness of history and the role of scholarly emotion with Kate McLoughlin. |
Kate McLoughlin, Santanu Das |
27 March, 2020 |
|
| America’s War Culture since 9/11 |
In this episode associate professor Patrick Deer discusses his forthcoming book We Are All Embedded: Understanding America’s War Culture since 9/11. |
Patrick Deer, Christine Strandmose Toft |
17 March, 2020 |
|
| The Art of Erosion |
Inaugural Lecture of Alice Oswald, Professor of Poetry, held at the University of Oxford Exam Schools. |
Alice Oswald |
9 December, 2019 |
|
| Will War still need us? What Future for Agency in War? |
Will War still need us? What Future for Agency in War? - an interview with Christopher Coker |
Solveig Gade, Christopher Coker |
27 November, 2019 |
|
| The Age of Amok - an interview with Joseph Vogl |
Professor Joseph Vogl discusses the phenomenon of ‘amok’ with Anders Engberg-Pedersen. |
Joseph Vogl, Anders Engberg-Pedersen |
4 November, 2019 |
|
| Philosophy and Nuclear War - an interview with Elaine Scarry |
Professor Scarry and Jens Bjering discuss philosophy and nuclear war. |
Elaine Scarry, Jens Bjering |
4 November, 2019 |
|
| War, Aesthetics, Politics – an interview with Vivienne Jabri |
Professor Vivienne Jabri discusses the relationship between war, aesthetics and politics in relation to contemporary warfare with Christine Strandmose Toft. |
Vivienne Jabri, Christine Strandmose |
4 November, 2019 |
|
| When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer |
Simon Armitage delivers his final lecture as Oxford Professor of Poetry, reflecting on his own influences as a poet. |
Simon Armitage |
17 May, 2019 |
|
| Theatre, 1660-1760 - The Arrival of the Actress |
David Taylor on the arrival of female actors on the stage. |
David Taylor |
14 March, 2019 |
|
| Theatre, 1660-1760 - Restoration and Change |
David Taylor lectures on the reopening of the theatres in the 1660s. |
David Taylor |
14 March, 2019 |
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| Race and Empire, 1660-1760 |
Ruth Scobie lectures on race and empire, 1660-1760. |
Ruth Scobie |
14 March, 2019 |
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| Drama and the Theatre, 1660-1760 |
Abigail Williams lectures on the staging of Restoration drama. |
Abigail Williams |
14 March, 2019 |
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| Literature and Gender, 1660-1760 |
Kathleen Keown considers representations of gender in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. |
Kathleen Keown |
7 March, 2019 |
|
| Manuscript and Print, 1660–1760 |
Carly Watson outlines the material forms in which literary texts circulated between 1660 and 1760. |
Carly Watson |
7 March, 2019 |
|
| What is a Literary Period? |
Clare Bucknell considers how we define a literary period. |
Clare Bucknell |
7 March, 2019 |
|
| Nineteenth-Century Stuff - Dickens, Paperwork and Paper Sorrows |
Sophie Ratcliffe investigates the material culture of the Victorians, using examples from Charles Dickens. |
Sophie Ratcliffe |
7 March, 2019 |
|
| What is a War Poem? |
Kate McLoughlin explores how we might define a war poem. |
Kate McLoughlin |
7 March, 2019 |
|
| Diaries as Literature - The Case of Virginia Woolf |
Michael Whitworth considers whether diaries are literature, looking particularly at the diaries of Virginia Woolf. |
Michael Whitworth |
7 March, 2019 |
|
| Character in Modern Drama |
Kirsten Shepherd-Barr investigates 'character' in Modern Drama |
Kirsten Shepherd-Barr |
7 March, 2019 |
|
| Brilliant Paradoxes and Corrosive Epigrams; or Why Oscar Wilde Went to Trial |
Sos Eltis looks at Oscar Wilde’s 1895 trial. |
Sos Eltis |
4 March, 2019 |
|
| Loathly Ladies |
Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield talk about the loathly lady: the hideous hag who knows the secret that the hero seeks, and whom he must learn how to respect. |
Carolyne Larrington, Fay Hield, Brian McMahon |
26 February, 2019 |
|
| Fairies, Children and Changelings |
Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield talk about the strange interest that fairies take in human infants, and the plight of children who stumble into this world, and can’t get home. |
Carolyne Larrington, Fay Hield, Brian McMahon, Marry Waterson, Ben Nicholls, Barney Morse-Brown. |
19 February, 2019 |
|
| Helpful Fairies |
Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield discuss how fairies and humans can co-operate and assist each other. |
Carolyne Larrington, Fay Hield, Brian McMahon, Lucy Farrell, Ewan McPherson |
12 February, 2019 |
|
| Fairy Wives and Fairy Lovers |
Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield talk about love and marriage between humans and fairies. |
Carolyne Larrington, Fay Hield, Brian McMahon |
8 February, 2019 |
|
| Introducing Fairies and Fairyland |
Carolyne Larrington and Fay Hield introduce the Modern Fairies project and talk about traditional imaginings of fairyland. |
Carolyne Larrington, Fay Hield, Brian McMahon |
28 January, 2019 |
|
| 'Undisfigured by False or Vicious Ornaments' - Clarity and Obscurity in the Age of Formlessness |
The Hilary Term Professor of Poetry lecture, delivered by Professor of Poetry Simon Armitage. |
Simon Armitage |
28 January, 2019 |
|
| Tales of Love and History - James Ivory in Conversation |
Oscar-winning American film-maker James Ivory will talk about his experiences with the legendary Merchant Ivory productions, in partnership with producer Ismail Merchant and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. |
James Ivory, Richard Parkinson, Katherine Harloe, Jennifer Ingleheart |
18 December, 2018 |
|
| Damned if he Does and Damned if he Doesn't? Dilemmas and Decisions in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight |
Simon Armitage lectures on the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. |
Simon Armitage |
23 November, 2018 |
|
| Free Reading |
Professor Lloyd Pratt delivers his inaugural lecture as Drue Heinz Professor of American Literature. |
Lloyd Pratt |
22 May, 2018 |
|
| Unseasonal Produce: Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres |
Simon Armitage delivers the Trinity 2018 poetry lecture entitled "Unseasonal Produce: Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres". |
Simon Armitage |
17 May, 2018 |
|
| Reading Bass Culture |
On 26 April 2018, Linton Kwesi Johnson read from a selection of his poetry and discussed with Professor Paul Gilroy the inter-generational and transatlantic relationships that had nurtured it. |
Linton Kwesi Johnson, Paul Gilroy, Louisa Layne |
16 May, 2018 |
|
| ‘Edward Lear’s Vision’, by Professor Matthew Bevis |
A talk given at the Ashmolean Museum on Edward Lear’s life, art, and poetry. |
Matthew Bevis |
10 May, 2018 |
|
| Weeping |
'He weeps by the side of the ocean, He weeps on the top of the hill', the poet wrote of himself in 'How Pleasant to Know Mr Lear'. |
Jasmine Jagger |
4 April, 2018 |
|
| Laughter |
Lear once spoke of 'this ludicrously whirligig life which one suffers from first and laughs at afterwards.' |
Matthew Bevis |
4 April, 2018 |
|
| Disgust |
This programme explores appetite, desire, and disgust in Lear. |
Jasmine Jagger |
4 April, 2018 |
|
| Wonder |
This programme examines different meanings of 'wonder' in Lear - as both a positive and a negative emotion, and as something in between. |
Jasmine Jagger |
4 April, 2018 |
|
| Introduction |
This programme introduces Lear and outlines the structure of the programmes. |
Matthew Bevis |
4 April, 2018 |
|
| Like, Elizabeth Bishop |
Professor of Poetry Simon Armitage delivers a lecture on the american writer and poet Elizabeth Bishop. |
Simon Armitage |
20 March, 2018 |
|
| Creative Media Lecture 02 |
In the second lecture, Stig Abell discusses the future of modern and social journalism. |
Stig Abell |
12 March, 2018 |
|
| Creative Media Lecture 01 |
In the first lecture, Stig Abell discusses the pros and cons of old fashioned journalism as well as modern forms of journalism such as social media. |
Stig Abell |
12 March, 2018 |
|
| Does love have a scent? |
Love is in the air - or is it? Companies are advertising that they can find you love through the power of scent! But are pheromones a chemical way to find your true love? Or is it just a myth? |
Tristram Wyatt |
6 February, 2018 |
|
| 'Art and Attunement', by Professor Rita Felski, University of Virginia and Southern Denmark |
In this talk Rita Felski reported at new research on how we engage with works of art across a broad range (including cat videos) and considered the puzzling question of why we are drawn by some pieces of music, art and literature, and not by others. |
Rita Felski |
19 December, 2017 |
|
| The Two Gentlemen of Verona |
Professor Emma Smith gives the last of her 2017 Shakespeare lectures on his early comedy, Two Gentlemen of Verona. |
Emma Smith |
15 December, 2017 |
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