Oxford is a city built on words: from its centuries as a haven for word-loving academics, its role as a publishing centre, and as home to famous authors and characters.

This talk offers stories from the history of the city and its people (real and imagined), and celebrates the many forms of wordplay to relish on its streets and walls. Meet famous writers including saga master JR Tolkien and fellow writer and friend CS Lewis, of Narnia fame. Learn about compelling fictional characters who have left real traces on our city, from John le Carré’s master spy George Smiley to Philip Pullman’s brave heroine Lyra Silvertongue. Uncover wordplay in coats of arms and college names, learn why we have ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ case letters, discover the origin of ‘spoonerisms’, and spot the pun lurking in a hairdo!

Tickets cost £6 and are available online via Plinth or at the Museum shop. Tickets for this event also include access to the Museum Galleries.

https://book.plinth.org.uk/e/X3eBev0IYokR3coARz6Z

Further information
Complimentary tea and coffee will be available to enjoy during the talk. It is recommend that you arrive before the start of the talk if you would like to grab a refreshment.

Sales from tickets help support our work to deliver fun and accessible family activities, community engagement projects, schools workshops, exhibitions and special events for Oxford’s people in our Museum spaces.

Sean Callery was a children’s author and a teacher before training to be a tour guide in Oxford and the Cotswolds. He has written more than 60 information books and uses his research and presentation skills to deliver a variety of talks as well as show people the sites and stories of the area. He holds the Green Badge (Oxford) and Blue Badge (Cotswolds) tour guide qualifications, and has devised audio tours for four Cotswolds towns.

£6