Blackwell's to be online retailer for Oxford Literary Festival

29.01.14 | Lisa Campbell - The Bookseller

Blackwell’s has become the official online retailer for the Financial Times Weekend Oxford Literary Festival, replacing Amazon in that role.

The chain academic bookseller has always been the official bricks and mortar retailer for the festival, but has now taken over online selling duties as well, which were previously undertaken by Amazon. During the course of the nine day festival, running from 22nd-30th March, Blackwell’s will also act as the official box office for the events as well as running the festival marquee.

David Prescott, c.o.o of Blackwell’s, said: “Blackwell’s has enjoyed a long association with the Oxford Literary Festival and, over the years, our specialist appreciation for and understanding of books has resonated well with the thousands of people who attend the Festival events. As Blackwell's was the first transactional bookshop online in the UK when it opened its virtual doors in 1985 we look forward to imparting that same knowledge and passion online wherever those interested in the festival may be.”

He added: “The festival is a massively important part of our calendar as a bookseller. It provides an important bridge between the start of the academic year, Christmas and the late spring arrival of academic tourists and summer schools. Commercially it is very important to us as an independent bookseller. Several weeks of intensive work goes into the preparation for it and we are all gearing up for a great Festival.”  
The Festival will include 350 events across 15 venues  in the city with authors including Michael Morpurgo, Booker Prize Winner Eleanor Catton, Alexander McCall Smith, Jeremy Paxman, Orhan Pamuk, Ian McEwan, Jan Morris and Robert Harris.

It was revealed in November that the Sunday Times had pulled out of sponsoring the Oxford Literary Festival and shortly afterwards the FT Weekend became the new headline event sponsor.