And the winner is…
Port Harcourt in Nigeria. Many congratulations to them. It’s the first time the title has gone to sub-Saharan Africa and it’s a splendid achievement. Eleven cities put in bids for the 2014 title, compared with three for the 2004 title ten years ago. Whichever way you look at it, books and reading, and UNESCO’s promotion … Continue reading
Match point
Wimbledon is upon us. So what links Andy Murray with Lewis Carroll and George W. Bush? The magic of Oxford as World Book Capital (keep your fingers crossed!) could bring them together. Carroll was a significant Oxford mathematician and he noticed that in a normal tennis tournament the prizes don’t always go to the best. … Continue reading
Publishers in Oxford
It is easy to see why Oxford is the second largest hotspot for publishers after London: only an hour away from the capital, with a literary and academic background that is hard to rival, the city has countless publishers of all kinds, perhaps the most renowned being that of its famous university ‘Oxford University Press’ … Continue reading
Blackwell’s
One of Oxford’s greatest bookstores is undoubtedly Blackwell’s, whose name has long been synonymous with the city and its unrivalled academia. Whilst the chain now owns flagship shops in Cambridge, London Charing Cross Road and Edinburgh South Bridge, it was Oxford’s Broad Street in which Benjamin Henry Blackwell opened his first ever store in January 1879. In those … Continue reading
Oxford World Book Capital 2014
Hello again Oxford World Bookers, sorry for such a long absence – holidays and work experience following that have meant no time whatsoever to devote to the blog – but I’m pleased to say I’m back again and ready to do some last-minute posts on why Oxford deserves to win before UNESCO’s decision in early … Continue reading
The city in the world
Last week I wrote about the diversity of language and culture in Oxford but if we are awarded the accolade of World Book Capital we also want to make sure that we take it out to the world. You shouldn’t actually have to come to Oxford to share in the experience. A very bright student … Continue reading
Jammerwoch
Es brillig war. Die schlichte Toven Wirrten und wimmelten in Waben; Und aller-mümsige Burggoven Die mohmen Räth’ ausgraben. Even if you can’t speak German I bet you can tell what that is a translation of. And if you’re still struggling the wonderfully Germanic ‘Banderschnätzchen’ in the next verse should give it away. It is of … Continue reading
The Hedgehog and the Fox
Over six hundred years ago Oxford University had its first library – in an upper room in the University church of St Mary the Virgin (now, less grandiosely, above the café in the church). Just over sixty years ago a group of people met together in the same room to form the Oxford Committee for … Continue reading
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