Written and Spoken Word

Whether or not you’re concerned about accelerating biodiversity loss, water security, climate change, or the impact of major economies in Asia and Latin America joining the West in destructive mass consumerism, the evidence is clear: we are stretching the planet’s resources.

Though 1970s anxieties proved largely unfounded, emerging research is resuscitating these concerns in a new way. A panel of local thinkers will lead an interactive discussion asking whether the world really is now entering an age where resource scarcity will come to define the limits of human well-being.

As part of the Oxford International Women’s Festival 2012 Irish vocalist Anne L Ryan will present Jibb Rishes Songologue, a vocal clown at the Old Fire Station, George Street, Oxford on Friday 9 March, 8pm. Performed and directed by Irish vocalist Anne L Ryan. With support by 4 women composers Fractofusus

A vocal clown brings to life glimpses of her past on and off the stage, through songs and vignettes set against an evocative soundscape. The character of Jibb Rish is from a by-gone world that she recreates for us with a modern twist.

Oxford Playhouse's Resident Company, Shared Experience, is delighted to invite you to join its Chair, Joan Bakewell, for an afternoon of conversation.

One of the first women to break into TV journalism, and a star presenter of Late Night Line-Up and Woman's Hour, Joan shares her thoughts on her distinguished career, her life from Blitz baby to honoured Dame, and what she really thinks of that enduring 'thinking man's crumpet' epithet...

Hosted by Mark Damazer, former controller of BBC Radio 4, proceeds from this fascinating Friday at 5pm will go towards securing the future of Shared Expe

Kate Tempest - fresh from a sell out tour with Billy Bragg graces the Hammer & Tongue stage, this time at the terrific "pop-up" venue The Old Boot Factory on St Mary's Road just off of the Cowley Road.

Kate is an exciting performer who has been elating audiences world over receiving standing ovations and massive critical acclaim. This year she signed a record deal and has been stomping all over the hip hop and spoken word worlds.

Motivated by a desire for civic participation, Amalia Pica's work often takes the form of temporary interventions into public space, documenting the artist's insertion of her own body into the landscape or her subtle alteration of it. Her wide-ranging practice includes sculpture, photography, drawing, film, and installation. Pica was born in Neuquén, Argentina in 1978, and lives and works in London.