Various members of Univ are speaking and leading tours at the Oxford Literary Festival, which runs from 21 to 29 March 2026.

Professor Adam Smith

Saratoga and Gettysburg: Great Battles of US History
Sunday 29 March 2026, 12pm
Univ Fellow, Professor Adam Smith, Edward Orsborn Professor of US Politics and Political History and the Director of the Rothermere American Institute, and Professor Kevin Weddle discuss two of the most famous battles in American history, Saratoga and Gettysburg, and explain how they helped to define US history. Professor Weddle is a distinguished fellow and the former Elihu Root Chair at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and served in the US army for 28 years.

Henry Marsh CBE FRCS

Mental Health: Are We Becoming Over-Medicated?
Sunday 29 March 2026, 2pm
Celebrated consultant neurosurgeon Henry Marsh CBE, FRCS (1969, PPE) chairs a discussion between GP Dr Gavin Francis and public health expert Sir Muir Gray about mental health, waste in the NHS, whether we are prescribing too much medication for mental health and what future treatment options might be. Mr Marsh is a pioneer of awake craniotomy techniques and of neurosurgical work in Ukraine and author of the international bestsellers Do No Harm and And Finally: A Neurosurgeon’s Reflections on Life.

Dr Steven Parissien

Another Round: A Post-War History of Britain in 12 Strong Drinks
Wednesday 25 March 2026, 6pm
Cultural and architectural historian Dr Steven Parissien (1978, History), Fellow of Kellogg College, talks to Alison Gomm about Britain’s drinking culture. Parissien looks at 12 different drinks, from Babycham to WKD, Guinness and Aperol Spritz, and shows how each of them reflects and defines British culture and politics. Dr Parissien has written sixteen single-authored books to date, most recently Building Britannia (2023), Another Round? A History of Postwar Britain in Twelve Drinks (2025), A Grand Tour of Georgian Britain (due 2026) and Trafalgar Square: The Biography (due 2027).

Alastair Lack

Plus

Television and radio broadcaster Alastair Lack (1964, History), former head of English programmes at BBC World Service, leads a series of walking tours as part of the festival:

Literary Oxford with Alastair Lack – SOLD OUT
Saturday, 21 March 2026 – 2pm

Oxford Poets with Alastair Lack – SOLD OUT
Sunday, 22 March 2026 – 2pm

Literary Oxford with Alastair Lack – SOLD OUT
Wednesday, 25 March 2026 – 2pm

The Oxford of Morse, Lewis and Endeavour – SOLD OUT
Friday, 27 March 2026 – 2pm

Literary Oxford with Alastair Lack – SOLD OUT
Saturday, 28 March 2026 – 2pm

Find out more about Alastair Lack’s tours on the Oxford Guild of Tour Guides website. You can read an interview with Alastair on the Ox Magazine website, in which he discusses his favourite locations in Oxford and shares a “secret spot”.

Published: 19 March 2026

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