Festivals, Talks and Media
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
17 June 2023: Hellenic Society AGM, Senate House, London: Writing Great Lives
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’