Festivals & Talks
Forthcoming:
The Missing Thread talks schedule is being added to regularly – please check back here for updates
Thursday 30 May, 1pm: Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye
Friday 31 May, 6pm: Blackwell’s, Oxford
Tuesday 4 June, 1pm: The Oldie Literary Lunch, London
Thursday 6 June, 6pm: Words by the Water Festival, Keswick, Lake District
Saturday 15 June: British Museum, City Lit Classics Day, London
Wednesday 26 June, 6pm: Classics for All (online)
Saturday 29 June, 1.15pm: Chalke Valley History Festival, Wiltshire
Thursday 8 August, 2pm: Museum in the Park, Stroud, Gloucestershire
Sunday 1 September, 1pm: Queen’s Park Book Festival, London
Friday 13 September, 11.30am: Buckingham History Festival
Saturday 14 September, 12.30pm: Chiswick Book Festival, London
Wednesday 18 September, 4pm: Gloucester History Festival
Saturday 21 September, 2pm: Barnes BookFest, Barnes Methodist Church, London
Saturday 21 September, 5pm: Cliveden Literary Festival
Monday 30 September, 7pm: The Travellers’ Club, London
Friday 4 October, 1.40pm: Isle of Wight Literary Festival
Thursday 10 October, 6pm, Brentford Books, Middlesex
Sunday 27 October, 4.30pm: Wimbledon BookFest, London
Thursday 7 November, 2pm: Bridport Literary Festival, Dorset
Thursday 21 November, 6pm: A Drink with The Idler (online)
Recent:
16 March 2024: History Day, West Horsley Place, Surrey (co-organiser, host & speaker)
22 October 2023: Wimbledon BookFest, with Tom Holland
19 October 2023: Charleston ‘Small Wonder’ Literary Festival, with Natalie Haynes
17 June 2023: Hellenic Society, London: Writing Great Lives
15 June 2023: Founding Myths, Talk at Engelsberg, Sweden
16 May 2023: The Betjeman Society address, Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair
23 April 2023: Barbara Pym Society
20 January 2023: Leatherhead Institute, Surrey
27 October 2022: Oxford Preservation Trust, Chairman’s Lecture
15 October 2022: Cliveden Literary Festival
8 October 2022: Buckingham History Festival
17 September 2022: Oxford Alumni Weekend, St Hilda’s
30 June 2022: The Oxford and Cambridge Club, London
22 June 2022: Chalke Valley History Festival, Wiltshire
12 May 2022: West Horsley Place, Surrey
5 May 2022: Blackwell’s, Oxford
5 May 2022: Oxford Chabad Society
27 April 2022: ‘To Oxford!’, Hatchard’s, Piccadilly
12 April 2022: Classics For All interview
23 January 2022: ClassicsNow: In conversation with Vincent Woods
18 June 2021: Women Creating Classics Conference, Exeter University
24 May 2021: The Travellers Club
26 March 2021: Asheville School, North Carolina, Epic Poetry Masterclass
18 March 2021: Classical Association Southwest: In a Nutshell: The World According to Pliny the Elder
16 March 2021: Academus Education talk on the Enduring Beauty of Greek Theatre
11 February 2021: Cambridge Union, This House Regrets the Fall of Rome’, debate
17 November 2020: Bettany Hughes, in conversation, Blackwell’s (via Zoom)
29 May 2020: Hay Festival Digital: Ancient Greek Drama
28 March 2020: Oxford Literary Festival
17 May 2020: Godolphin & Latymer Breakfast Club
10 March 2020: Camden School for Girls
9 March 2020: The Lady Eleanor Holles School
12 December 2019: British Museum, ‘Who was Homer?’
7 November 2019: St Hilda’s College, Oxford, Autumn Address
2 November 2019: Petworth Literary Festival
25 October 2019: BBC History Weekend, Chester
12 October 2019: Heffer’s, Cambridge
10 October 2019: Isle of Wight Literary Festival
8 October 2019: Cheltenham Literature Festival
1 October 2019: British Library, 100 Ancient Stories: Talk and Readings with Mike Grady
16 September 2019: Gloucester History Festival
13 September 2019: Savile Club
25 July 2019: Waterstones, Guildford
25 June 2019: Blackwell’s, Oxford
14 June 2019: Topping’s, Bath
8 June 2019: First’s London Rare Book Fair
29 May 2019: Hatchard’s, Piccadilly
28 May 2019: Hay Festival
14 March 2019: Southampton Classical Association
3 October 2018: Henley Literary Festival
4 July 2018: Ibstock Place School, Prize Giving address
13 March 2018: The House of Commons, speech on Somerset Maugham and presentation of awards for The London Magazine
1 February 2018: Charterhouse School
7 October 2017: Surbiton High School, in aid of Parthenon cast restoration
27 September 2017: The Horatian Society Annual Address, Lincoln’s Inn, London
20 September 2017: The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour: Robert Lowell, British Library, with Grey Gowrie, Simon Armitage, Julian Sands, Hugo Williams, Lucy Fleming, Alan Jenkins, Michael Hofman, Saskia Hamilton, and Mark Ford
16 September 2017: ‘University Challenged’ with Bamber Gascoigne, Oxford University
18 July 2017: University of Cambridge, plenary lecture, International Summer School
10 July 2017: The Prince’s Teaching Institute, Merchant Taylors’ Hall, guest lecture
4 July 2017: The Oldie Literary Lunch, London
11 March 2017: University of Oxford, alumni guest panel ‘Future Classics’
9 March 2017: St John’s College, Cambridge
23 January 2017: London Classical Association, Roehampton
8 November 2016: King’s College School, Wimbledon
3 November 2016 Royal Grammar School, Guildford
29 October 2016: Heffer’s Bookshop, Cambridge
15 October 2016: Isle of Wight Literary Festival
10 October 2016: Cheltenham Literary Festival
13 September 2016: The Oldie Literary Lunch, London
27 July 2016: Ryedale Festival, North Yorkshire
2 July 2016: Althorp Literary Festival
28 April 2016: Winchester College School
25 April 2016: Travellers’ Club
9 April 2016: Oxford Literary Festival
18 March 2016: Youth Awards, Mole Valley
8 March 2016: St Olave’s School, Orpington
6 March 2016: Oxford University Church of St Mary the Virgin, sermon
29 February 2016: Bath Literary Festival
13 February 2016: Barton’s Bookshop, Surrey
12 February 2016: Waterstone’s, Dorking
17 November 2015: Founder’s Day, St Hilda’s College, Oxford, guest speaker
27 November 2014: London History Festival
5 August 2014: Oxford University UNIQ Summer School
11 July 2014: Walking Tour of Titian’s Venice at The National Gallery for AIFS summer programme
26 March 2014: Online lecture series on Homer Iliad 24 for Massolit
29 September 2013: Soho Literary Festival, Classics Quiz
5 April 2013: University of Reading, Classical Association Conference lecture
19 November 2012: King’s College London: ‘On the Ancient Novel in Renaissance Italy’ lecture
19 July 2012: Talk at the National Gallery for the Italian Cultural Association: ‘Introducing Renaissance Venice’
10 March 2012: Sir William Perkins’s School, Surrey
16 December 2011: University College London, lunchtime lecture
9 April 2010: Courtauld Gallery: ‘Michaelangelo’s Dream: the Phaethon presentation drawings’
2 February 2010: Courtauld Gallery: ‘Seurat’s Woman Powdering Herself’