Fantasy Literature

About Fantasy Literature

Fantasy Literature has emerged as one of the most important genres over the past few decades and now enjoys extraordinary levels of popularity. The impact of Tolkien’s Middle-earth works and the serialisation of George Martin’s ‘Game of Thrones’ books has moved these and their contemporaries into mainstream culture. As the popularity grows so does interest in the roots of fantasy, the main writers and themes, and how to approach these texts. Oxford is a natural home to fantasy literature with those who worked or studied here having written so many famous and influential texts (e.g. Lewis Carroll (C. L. Dodgson), C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Susan Cooper, Diana Wynne Jones, Alan Garner, and Philip Pullman to name but a few) – leading to the notion of an ‘Oxford School of Fantasy’. These lectures, short talks, and interviews seek to take listeners into these works and these writers and beyond. All material released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ . [Artwork by Minjie Su.]

Publisher

Oxford University

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

12 May 2020

Latest episode

4 Feb 2026

Latest episodes

63 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   4 Feb 2026

   An Interview with Katherine Rundell, Bloomsbury-Oxford Fantasy Summer School

   An interview with Katherine Rundell as part of the Bloomsbury-Oxford Fantasy summer school held in September 2025. In the interview the speaker is asked to elaborate on the genre of fantasy but also some of the key points raised in their talk.

2. 

   23 Jan 2026

   An Interview with Samantha Shannon, Bloomsbury-Oxford Fantasy Summer School

   An interview with Samantha Shannon as part of the Bloomsbury-Oxford Fantasy summer school held in September 2025. In the interview the speaker is asked to elaborate on the genre of fantasy but also some of the key points raised in their talk.

3. 

   20 Jan 2026

   An Interview with Minjie Su, Bloomsbury-Oxford Fantasy Summer School

   An interview with Minjie Su as part of the Bloomsbury-Oxford Fantasy summer school held in September 2025. In the interview the speaker is asked to elaborate on the genre of fantasy but also some of the key points raised in their talk.

Who has been a guest on Fantasy Literature

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Stuart Lee
• Michael Ward
• Grace Khuri
• Mark Williams
• Giuseppe Pezzini

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

3.3 / 5

4 ratings

Spotify

4.2 / 5

13 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 17 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

14

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

50

Contact Fantasy Literature

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.