2025 was full of challenges for Book at Lunchtime and even the Humanities Department due to the opening of Schwarzmann Centre. Despite the obstacles and uncertainties that are inherent in organising events at an entirely new venue, Book at Lunchtime manages to transform those challenges to opportunities by delivering exciting discussions throughout the year.
This year,TORCH’s Book at Lunchtime maintains its format of a fortnightly series of short book discussions held during term time over lunch, but I found it to be much more creative than the previous years. Echoing the changes in spatiality and locality, TORCH’s adaptability and creativity can be observed in changes taken place on three levels – the speaker, the topic, and the medium.
The seven events this year have hosted speakers with various backgrounds. It is no surprise that amazing speakers from the English Faculty have been invited to talk about books – Professor Adam Smyth and Dr. Sally Bayley has both chosen their own books as the centre of the panel and performed readings. But what pleasantly surprised me is the joining of Dr. Thea Gomelauri (Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies) who opened this year’s events with The Lailashi Codex, followed by Professor Tamsin Mather from the department of Earth Sciences, introducing her book on volcanoes.
By connecting different disciplines via books and lively discussion over them, TORCH allows researchers and students with different backgrounds to develop meaningful dialogues. This not only raises awareness of certain knowledge gaps, but also serves as a way of bridging them. Even more insight is brought when Book at Lunchtime welcomes Oxford - Uppsala Culture & Creativity Research Cluster to present their pamphlet Conversations on Creativity vol. 1: Monstrosity. This research group extends beyond Oxford and is associated with the Uppsala University, and their participation definitely brought new energy to Book at Lunchtime.
As aforementioned, apart from demonstrating flexibility and creativity in the selection of speakers, 2025 Book at Lunchtime is also inspiring in the sense that the books introduced covered a much wider range of topics. Rather than focusing mostly on history and culture, this year’s literature appeal to a wider audience. The Lailashi Codex touches upon religion, while Professor Adam Smyth’s The Book Makers takes a meta-cognitive perspective exploring how the idea of a book is being made and unmade. Dr. Sally Bayley presented her series of coming of age novels, while Professor Tamsin Mather talked about her popular science book Adventures in Volcanoland: What Volcanoes Tell Us about the World and Ourselves – both of them introducing work with accessible form but valuable content. Professor Patrick McGuinness revealed his personal history in Ghost Stations: Essays and Branchlines while also critically examining certain unknown public history, making this book mysterious, intriguing yet serious. Less traditional ‘books’ including the earlier mentioned pamphlet Conversations on Creativity vol. 1: Monstrosity and a new and first edition of collection of three plays (A Doll’s House, Men of Honour, When We Dead Awaken) add vibrancy to Book at Lunchtime, making it more diverse as a whole.
From conversation with one writer to seminar with groups of researchers extending beyond Oxford; from the English Faculty to the Department of Earth Sciences; from panels focusing on one book to discussing book series and pamphlets to plays, I can see a trend of innovation in this year’s Book at Lunchtime. Such innovation is especially crucial as we transition from Radcliffe Humanities to the Schwarzmann Centre, marking a new era for Book at Lunchtime and TORCH. With innovation and the already displayed flexibility, I believe that such change will only enhance the longevity of this programme.
Regardless of what you think of all the changes, one thing will stay constant for sure, that is, the high quality of the book and the lunch at Book at Lunchtime!
