Festivals, Talks and Media

Forthcoming:

Saturday 16 March 2024: History Day, West Horsley Place, Surrey

Recent:

7 November 2023: Interview with Robin Lane Fox for Intelligence Squared

22 October 2023: Wimbledon BookFest, with Tom Holland

19 October 2023: Charleston ‘Small Wonder’ Literary Festival, with Natalie Haynes

22 August 2023: Interviewed by Justin Webb for Axess TV, Sweden

17 June 2023: Hellenic Society AGM, Senate House, London: Writing Great Lives

15 June 2023: Founding Myths, Talk at Engelsberg, Sweden

16 May 2023: The Betjeman Society, Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair

23 April 2023: Barbara Pym Society

16 February 2023: Intelligence Squared: Greek Myths

20 January 2023: Leatherhead Institute, Surrey

29 November 2022: Interview on Of Gods and Men on Monocle Radio

28 November 2022: The Classics Podcast (audiobook reading of a short story)

12 November 2022: The Foreign Desk, Monocle

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, Meeting Minds, St Hilda’s

24 August 2022: Times Radio ‘On this Day’ segment on the eruption of Vesuvius

30 June 2022: The Oxford and Cambridge Club, London

22 June 2022: Chalke Valley History Festival, Wiltshire

10 June 2022: History Hack podcast

19 May 2022: HistoryHit podcast: Homer

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

21 April 2022: BBC Radio 4, Open Book

20 April 2022: Talk Europe (RTE) Radio interview

12 April 2022: Classics For All interview with Paul Cartledge

5 April 2022: BBC History podcast ‘From wild student parties to the shadow of war’

31 March 2022: NowTV: Interview with Andrew Keen

23 January 2022: ClassicsNow: In Conversation with Vincent Woods, streaming

13 January 2022: RTÉ Radio 1 – Arena

1 October 2021:  BBC History Magazine podcast: Was the Trojan War fact or fiction?

24 August 2021: Cadena Ser (Spanish radio station) interview

18 June 2021: Women Creating Classics Conference, Exeter University

24 May 2021: The Travellers Club

12 May 2021: Jo Durrant’s Beautiful Universe

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

15 February 2021: Slightly Foxed Podcast: An Odyssey through the Classics

11 February 2021: Cambridge Union, This House Regrets the Fall of Rome’, debate

26 November 2020: HistoryHit: New Discoveries in Pompeii, Emergency Podcast

17 November 2020: Chairing Bettany Hughes on Aphrodite for Blackwell’s Bookshop (via Zoom)

1 November 2020: HistoryHit: Catullus’ Rome

29 May 2020: Hay Festival Digital: Ancient Greek Drama

28 March 2020: Oxford Literary Festival (online)

17 May 2020: Godolphin & Latymer Breakfast Club

19 April 2020: The Better Known Show

10 March 2020: Camden School for Girls

9 March 2020: Lady Eleanor Holles School

4 March 2020: LBC Radio Interview with Nick Ferrari on Titian’s Nudes

20 February 2020: Daily Mail podcast: Should Homer be Optional at Oxford?

28 January 2020: National Review ‘Great Books’ podcast 

12 December 2019: British Museum, ‘Who was Homer?’

7 November 2019: St Hilda’s College Oxford, Autumn Address, University Women’s Club

2 November 2019: Petworth Literary Festival: In the Shadow of Vesuvius

25 October 2019: BBC History Weekend, Chester: In the Shadow of Vesuvius

12 October 2019: Heffer’s, Cambridge: In the Shadow of Vesuvius; 100 Ancient Stories

10 October 2019: Isle of Wight Literary Festival: In the Shadow of Vesuvius

8 October  2019: Cheltenham Literature Festival: In the Shadow of Vesuvius, interviewed by Andrew Rae

1 October 2019: British Library, 100 Ancient Stories: Talk and Readings with Mike Grady

23 September 2019: BBC History Extra podcast on the destruction of Pompeii

22 September 2019: BBC Gloucester interview with Jo Durrant

16 September 2019: Gloucester History Festival (In the Shadow of Vesuvius)

13 September 2019: Savile Club (In the Shadow of Vesuvius)

12 September 2019: Spectator podcast: Boris Johnson the classicist 

29 August 2019: Hidden Histories Podcast on Roman London

25 July 2019: Waterstones, Guildford

12 July 2019: HistoryHit Podcast with Dan Snow

25 June 2019: Blackwell’s, Oxford

14 June 2019: Topping’s Bath

8 June 2019: First’s London Rare Book Fair

30 May 2019: Travels Through Time Podcast for History Today

29 May 2019: Hatchard’s, Piccadilly, London

28 May 2019: Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye, Wales

14 March 2019: Southampton Classical Association

3 October 2018: Henley Literary Festival: London Library writers’ panel with Sara Wheeler, Daisy Goodwin and John McNally

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 short story competition

1 February 2018: Charterhouse School

18 January 2018: TLS Podcast on the history and future of writing

7 October 2017: Talk at 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

29 December 2016: University Challenge Christmas Final, BBC 2

28 December 2016: University Challenge Christmas Semi-Final, BBC 2

25 December 2016: University Challenge Christmas Special, BBC 2

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

9 October 2016: Interview with Cowes Radio

13 September 2016: The Oldie Literary Lunch, London

27 July 2016: Ryedale Literary Festival, North Yorkshire

2 July 2016: Althorp Literary Festival

28 April 2016: Winchester College School

25 April 2016: Travellers’ Club, Pall Mall

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, Book signing

12 February 2016: Waterstone’s, Dorking, Book signing

17 November 2015: Guest speaker at Founder’s Day, St Hilda’s College, Oxford

6 November 2015: BBC World Service, The Why Factor: the history of food allergies

27 November 2014: London History Festival, interview with Dan Jones

5 August 2014: Oxford University UNIQ Summer School, guest speaker

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: ‘Picasso and the Minotaur’

16 December 2011: University College London: ‘Mantegna and Castration’

9 April 2010: Courtauld Gallery: ‘Michaelangelo’s Dream: the Phaethon presentation drawings’

2 February 2010: Courtauld Gallery: ‘Seurat’s Woman Powdering Herself’